Opposites Attract
by Mirror Rain
Summary: When four sisters go home from a night of clubbing, they are attacked by a group of street thugs. In order to escape, they all seperate. A chase begins. Who will save them? L/OC R/OC D/OC M/OC  I DON'T OWN TMNT! But if I did...
1. Character Profiles

**Character Profiles. You can skip them if you want.**

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Name: Ava

Hair Colour: Brown

Length: Shoulders

Style: Slightly wavey

Eye Colour: Green

Extra info: Ava doesn't say much, but when she does say something it's normally in a strong, commanding voice, which everyone seems to listen to. She hides her emotions and normally goes with the logical way of a situation. She practises tai-kwon-do at least five times a week.

Name: Lara

Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Length: Past shoulders

Style: Slightly wavey

Eye Colour: Green

Extra Info: Lara is loud and very demanding. She is bossy, and seems to fight with some of her sisters regularly. She also goes to a gym in the city to keep her body's strength up. A bonus to this is that she works at the gym as a personal trainer.

Name: Gracie

Hair Colour: Light Brown

Length: Bit past shoulders

Style: Ponytail

Eye Colour: Blue

Extra info: Gracie is quiet and normally keeps to herself. She hides out in her room and only comes out when she has to go to work (librarian) or is needed for something. She has sight problems, and uses thin rimmed circle glasses to help her see.

Name: Zoe

Hair Colour: Blonde

Length: Shoulders

Style: Straight

Eye Colour: Blue

Extra Info: Zoe is loud and very cheerful. She likes to crack a lot of jokes and only occasionally does she ever get sad. She goes for a long jog around a few blocks to get to her workplace (Super market check-out chick. Her stuck-on-her-face smile draws the customers in) and jogs back. She is also very dramatic.


	2. Chapter 1  Clubbing Night

"HEY!" Lara shouted over the pounding of the music from the club. "CAREFULL WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

The man she was shouting to looked at Lara, and shrugged before walking off.

"Are you ok Gracie?" Ava spoke as she helped her sister up.

"Yeah." Gracie murmured as she slid her glasses back on. "It's just the seventh time tonight I've been knocked over. No biggy."

"WHOOOOOO!" A yell came from the table beside them.

"Zoe! Get down from that table!" Ava shouted at the girl.

"Butz Avaaaaa. Itsh fun!" Zoe slurred.

"Come on Av!" Lara hiccupped. "Let loose a little."

Ava shook her head.

"Come on." She spoke. "It's time we should be going home."

"WHEEEEE!" Zoe shouted in the night.

"Zoe shush!" Gracie murmured beside them. "We don't want to get mugged or attacked tonight!"

"COME ON, GRACIE!" Zoe shouted in her ear. "YOU GOTSTA LET GOOO!"

Gracie shook her head and re-adjusted her glasses as she dragged her sister along.

"I know I've had a lot to drink, but I can walk by myself Av!" Lara scowled as she tried to pull her sister off her. Ava let go and Lara stumbled, hitting the ground hard.

"Doesn't look it." Ava mumbled.

"Lucky break!" Lara slurred.

"YEAAAAHH!" Zoe screamed again.

"Zoe shush! Please!" Gracie begged. The night was beginning to make her afraid.

"Don't be scared, Gracie." Ava spoke calmly beside her. "We'll be fine."

Gracie gulped and nodded nervously.

"Come on." Ava said. "The hotel's just over there."

"Who died and made you boss!" Lara snapped. The others all watched her silently until the answer silently dawned on Lara.

"Oh." She murmured. "Sorry. Slip of the tongue."

Ava shook her head and grabbed her arm again.

"We're nearly there." Ava murmured.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Zoe yelled and giggled.

"Zoe you have obviously had too much to drink." Lara laughed.

"Lara!" Zoe spoke, suddenly serious. "You can NEVER, never have too much of a good thing!"

Lara laughed harder at this and Zoe giggled along with her.

Ava shook her head again when she suddenly stopped walking.

She glanced behind her and looked around in all directions.

"Whatsza matter Av?" Lara asked next to her.

"Someone's watching us." Ava murmured to her sister. "I can feel it."

Laughter echoed down the street and the girls all became wide eyed. They looked all around them and up and down the street.

"Let's hurry and get back." Ava spoke.

"Not enough time girl." A voice spoke as a man came out of the shadows. More bodies followed him and soon the girls found that they were surrounded.

"Now." The man spoke. "Hand over the goods, and we won't have to hurt you."

The girls got ready to brace themselves, until the men came closer.

"Scatter!" Ava shouted and all of the girls shot out in different directions. Ava jumped over the men, Gracie slid underneath them, Zoe pushed right through and Lara gave one a kicked and escaped.

"Get them!" The leader ordered and he and his men all gathered in groups to follow the girls.


	3. Chapter 2  SOS Save Our Shells

**AUTHORS NOTES :) – Yes Sedaner (and anyone else who wants to), I give you permission to guess at who you believe is going to be with who, and state your reason. Just write it as an inbox PLEASE! That way, no hints are given away. Thankyou! :)**

**I hope that the breaks in between to tell you that it's a different scene comes up. Otherwise, I'm gonna be peeved. And the 'MR' in them stands for 'Mirror Rain'. In case you're wondering (and if they show up!)**

**Also, don't think of these next few bits happening at different times, think of it all happening at the same time. Like, right now, as your reading this, someone you know might be eating. Or playing with a toy of some kind.**

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Zoe quickly became sober as she ran. Being the youngest of her sisters, she always felt the most vulnerable, and being chased by a bunch of most likely hormone-driven men was certainly one of those things she tried her hardest to avoid. One guy alone, she could handle. Two guys, maybe. But having somewhere close to nine? Not possible.

But, Zoe wasn't always one to fight, that was more of Lara's thing. Zoe preferred speed. Being the fastest girl on the track team in school always helped her too. She twisted and turned in the city, trying to make her escape through alleyways and moving vehicles.

Mind you, the thought of her chasers having guns didn't even register into her half-drunken mind.

So, when a shot was fired off, she did what any female teenager would do.

She screamed.

Panicking, she made a wrong turn and found herself in an alleyway with a dead end. No bins, no boxes, nothing to hide in.

"Oh no." Zoe murmured out into the darkness.

Looking around, the only thing she could see was a fire escape. She jumped to try and reach the ladder, but missed. Then, her pursuers came around her corner.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? A mouse that seemed to have gotten itself trapped." One of the men sneered.

Even at the lame remark, Zoe's heart thumped hard in her chest.

She was close to believing that it was the end for her, until

"Can't you suckers stay in the good books for one night? Honestly, I really wonder how many times I have to kick your butts before you finally learn." A voice spoke, echoing down the alleyway.

The speaker jumped down into view, but only its outline could be seen.

Zoe's heart thumped harder at the tall, muscled figure, unsure if it really was her saviour.

"Not that I'm complaining." The figure snickered and cracked his knuckles.

Before anyone could even ask, the man pulled out two weapons of some sort, and jumped on one of the men.

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Gracie stopped for breathe, before hearing that the men were getting closer and running again.

Her glasses were slipping off her face continuously, and without them she could hardly see at all.

"I should really consider getting contacts." Gracie gasped between breathes. "And jog a little more."

Gracie looked all around her and found herself an alleyway with bins, garbage cans and cardboard boxes.

She smiled at this and ran into it, staying silent. Running or fighting definitely wasn't her thing, but stealth she could do. Always being the best at playing hide-and-go-seek at birthday parties, and normally being invisible to the world anyway had to come in handy some time.

She quickly grabbed a broken cardboard box and sat next to a dumpster. She pulled the cardboard over herself as she heard voices coming down the alleyway. Gracie held her breathe and stayed still.

Footsteps echoed around the alley and Gracie was finding it hard to keep herself from panicking.

"Come out, come out wherever you are girly." One of them taunted.

" Come on girly, we aren't going to hurt ya." Another laughed.

Gracie wasn't sure how many of them were there, but there were a lot judging by the snickers that echoed down.

She peeked through a hole in the cardboard and gasped as a pair of feet were heading straight towards her.

The cardboard she had been holding onto for dear life had suddenly disappeared as a grotty hand came down and grabbed her hair.

"Gotcha!" The assailant exclaimed and Gracie let out a scream.

"Let go of me!" She begged.

"Not a chance gorgeous." Another smirked.

"Say." Another spoke. "Maybe when we're done takin the goods, we can take some other goods, whaddaya say?"

The others laughed.

"Yeah. This one looks so innocent that she couldn't have even had her first kiss yet, am I right?" Another purposed.

Another round of laughter passed through and Gracie felt tears prick her eyes.

"Don't do this, please." She begged. "Let me go."

"Sure. We'll let you go." The man who held her hair spoke. The others quietened down at this, all staring at him in confusion.

"We'll let you go. As soon as we're done with ya!" They all began to laugh at this and Gracie felt the tears escape from her eyes.

"I thought men as old as you would have learned to treat the ladies with a little respect." A voice called from the end of the alleyway. All of their head's turned to see what looked like a bulky man in the shadows, only a little bit of light came out to show the shape of his figure.

"I might just have to teach you all a lesson on that won't I?" The figure spoke again, pulling out two swords from what seemed to be his belt.

The man holding up Gracie let her go and she dropped to the ground, her glasses falling from her face.

"Oh yeah? And just who do you think you are!" He threatened the figure.

A smirk of some kind could barely be made out from the shadow, before he jumped up and made his attack.

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Lara had managed to get somewhere around five to ten guys to follow her from the original group. She had made her way far enough into a junk yard that there was most likely no one else around, when she suddenly turned onto the group of goons that were stupid enough to follow her.

The group surrounded her and all snickered and laughed.

"We've got you now girly." One spoke. Lara only smirked.

"Or, I've got you." She spoke, before giving one a good jump-kick in the chest. He immediately fell to the ground, her on top of him.

The group suddenly chorused with a "What the-?" when quick as a flash, she had already moved to punch the guy next to him.

Realising that they were getting beaten (by a girl no less), they all brought out their wrenches, pipes and knifes that they had stashed and began attacking her. The thing is, before they had even striked, Lara had already had a pattern in her head.

'_Dodge, weave, hit, punch, dodge, kick, weave, hit,'_ ect. Lara had already knocked out her fourth guy, when suddenly a gun went off and she felt a piercing pain in her thigh. She let out a yell from it when one of her attackers grabbed her. He held them behind her back as she tried her best to kick the men attacking her from the front. Then, more of the men began to hold her down.

"Let me go!" Lara grit her teeth. "Let me go!"

"Perhaps I may be of assistance." A voice spoke from above.

Lara looked up to see a shadowy figure standing on top of a junk pile, looking down onto the group.

The man jumped down from the pile and began walking to them when one of the goons holding up Lara's leg pulled a gun out from his pocket.

"I wouldn't come any closer man." He spoke. The figure stopped in his tracks and raised his hands. Lara looked at them curiously.

'_Three fingers?'_

"Calm down." The figure spoke. "It'll be ok."

The goon cocked the gun and aimed.

"I'm warning you!" He barked.

Lara could see that he was about to pull the trigger, and kicked the gun out of his hand. The sound of the gunshot echoed around and the figure decided that it was time to act. He seemed to pull out a stick of some sort from his back, and charged.

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Ava hoped that the idea of her and her sisters all separating was a good one, or else she would suffer from the guilt.

Even if one of her sisters had died, she would find it hard to live on. Living without all of her sisters, was not an option. She would surely kill herself for sure.

When she was closer to the hotel, she realised that she could not escape by running. Usually, she would try to talk with the perpetrator and convince them to change their tactic. But Ava didn't believe that it would work this time.

When two of her chasers managed to get in front of her, she stopped and looked around. Her chasers had surrounded her.

"Why don't you just give up now?" One of the goons smirked.

Ava scowled at him and got into a fighting stance.

One of the men jumped to catch her, but she leaped up high and jumped on his back, pushing him to the ground.

He fell with a thud and another one came up to catch her. She gave him a kick in the stomach and he slip back, just in time for another one to try and get her.

Ava dodged and jumped to get away from the goons, and kicked them to keep them back. She hardly used her fist at all. When she felt one come at her from behind, she used her elbow to smack it into their face

She heard the man stumble back with a cry and could feel a different set of eyes watching her. She looked up and could see a shadowy figure on a building, watching her in the moonlight.

"If you're planning on helping sometime soon, now would be great!" Ava called out to the large figure and dodged another attack. The figure seemed to get the hint and jumped down from the building.

It pulled out two nun chucks from his sides and began to attack some of the goons. Ava barely heard him saying something along the lines of 'Cowabunga dude!' before giving one a good kick.

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Zoe had hardly moved at all as she watched the person, no, _creature_ attack her assailants. Her breathing had slowed slightly as she watched his amazing ability to dodge, weave and strike at them. Before long, all of the men were on their backs or stomachs, groaning in pain.

The figure laughed and slipped his weapons back into his belt.

"Too easy." He smirked.

Zoe watched him as he turned to face her.

"Hey." He spoke. "You ok back there?"

A smile grew on her face as she felt her body calm down. The fear she had left and she could feel herself move again. Before the creature realised what she was doing, she had run up to him and engulfed him in a hug. Her arms had wrapped themselves around his neck and tears pricked in her eyes.

"Thank you." She murmured into his chest. "Thank you so much."

The creature seemed hesitant in her actions.

"Er..." He stuttered. "No problem."

She moved back slightly to give him space and looked up at him, smiling.

She gasped as the thought of her sisters came into her mind.

"What?" The creature asked. Zoe grabbed his hand and dragged him up a street, heading towards the hotel.

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Gracie had given up trying to find her glasses after hearing the sounds of cries and a struggle. Instead, crawled into the corner of the dumpster and the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest. She put her face in her knees and began to sob again.

When the noises all died down, Gracie felt a huge hand gently touch her knee. She flinched at the feeling, but soon felt comfort.

"I think these belong to you." A voice spoke. She opened her eyes and could barely make out the foggy image of something green holding what seemed to be wire. Gracie reached out and gently grabbed the wire like thing. Feeling the rims of her glasses, she put them on.

Sliding them onto her face, she opened her eyes and blinked at the shadowy figure.

It's hand was still held out and Gracie grabbed it. The figure pulled her up delicately.

Gracie took note of the three, green fingers that formed together to make a hand. She looked at it curiously without letting go. Then she looked at where she believed the face to be, and saw it outlined a little from the light.

She reached out and touched it. The man flinched slightly, so Gracie moved her hand back.

The sound of a gunshot echoed and Gracie's head turned to the sound.

"Lara." Gracie murmured. She held onto her saviours hand tightly and ran to where she believed the gunshot was, not even noticing the group of men lying on the ground in pain.

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Lara kicked another goon in the guts and looked around. All of the men whom had attacked her were lying on the ground.

Lara laughed. She turned around to the creature that had helped her.

"High five!" She smiled. The creature seemed a bit hesitant before putting his hand up. Lara hit it with a 'smack!'

She looked around again and crossed her arms.

"So" She spoke. "What now?"

"Now," The creature spoke. "I check out that bullet wound on your leg."

Lara looked down at her pants that were still seeping with blood. She was about to argue with the creature when she suddenly remembered something.

"The guys!" She cried and ran to the hotel.

"Hey!" The creature called after her. "Wait up!"

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Ava and the figure had gotten more and more attackers since their fight first began.

"This is ridiculous!" Ava shouted. "We need reinforcements!"

The figure pulled out some sort of walkie talkie device and spoke into it.

"Hey guys, I'm having a little trouble here!" He spoke.

"Be there in a minute Mikey!" A voice spoke back.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon." Another did.

Ava rose an eyebrow as she dodged another attacker and hit the person in the back of the neck.

Not long after, six more figures came out from the shadows, and four of the six attacked.

"Ava!" One of the other two on the sidelines called out. Ave turned and smiled.

"Gracie! Zoe!" She cried.

"What am I, shopped liver!" Lara snapped as she punched someone in the face.

"Lara!" The other three laughed.

"That's better." Lara smirked and kicked another goon. She ran over to her sisters and they all had a group hug.

They all separated and looked at each other.

"Are you ready?" Ava smiled

"Born ready!" Lara smirked.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Zoe giggled.

Gracie hesitated, but nodded.

Then all four of them faced the goons, and charged.

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The group of eight all looked around each other to find all of their attackers on the ground.

"Well." Ava spoke. "That wasn't too bad."

"Yeah." Zoe nodded. "Kinda fun too."

"Now." One of the shadowy figures spoke. "About that leg."

His hand touched Lara's pants gently, but Lara slapped it away.

"Don't touch me, pervert!" She snapped.

"I was talking about the bullet wound!" The creature interjected.

"You got shot!" Ava cried.

"It's just a scratch!" Lara lied.

"Your entire leg is covered in blood and you claim that it is just a scratch?" The man spoke, crossing his arm.

"Yeah, well, it's not my blood! It's theirs!" Lara pointed to some of the men on the ground.

"Lara!" Ava snapped. Lara turned around and faced her.

"This kind man is obviously a doctor, who wants to help you heal. Take his offer instead of leaving it."

"But I'm fine!" Lara argued. She took a step forward on it and wobbled.

"Ok." She gave in. "Maybe I'm not as fine as I thought I was."

One of the creatures sighed.

"What should we do?" One of them asked. Three of the creatures turned to look at one.

"We'll take them back to the lair." He spoke.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!" One shouted.

"Awesome bro!" Another smirked.

"The lair is close by. As long as the keep quiet about it, they'll be fine." The leader spoke.

One of them scoffed.

Three of the creatures began to walk off, but one of them stayed near Lara.

"Need help?" He asked, holding his arms out. "It's a bit of a hard track to the lair."

"No." Lara growled and pushed their arms down.

"Excuse me." Ava called out. The four others all looked at her.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall any of us agreeing to this arrangement." She spoke.

"We're doing this for your own benefit, not ours." The leader replied.

"Oh yeah?" Lara snarled. "And how do we know that none of you are some sort of lying rapist or mass murderer or something?"

"Miss, if we were going to do anything like that, we would have done that by now." Another spoke.

"I'd like to see you even try." Lara threatened.

"Ha!" One of them laughed "Kid's got spunk!"

"Just who are you calling kid, ya jerk!" Lara snapped back.

One of them walked up to Lara and gave her a light poke with one of their fingers.

"Consider yerself raped, kid." It murmured.

"Why I outa!" Lara shouted and stepped forward.

She felt her body sway a bit before she fell to the ground.

"Ow." She groaned.

"Lara!" The girls cried and ran to her.

"If you don't get her to a hospital soon she would die of blood loss." One of them spoke.

"We can't do that either." Gracie murmured shyly.

The four creatures looked at them all confused.

"We're barely getting by paying our rent. Food is scarce too. A hospital bill would be hard to pay." Ava spoke.

"Then let us help you." The leader spoke.

All of the girls looked at each other, giving out silent messages. Ava then turned to the four and nodded.

"Alright." She murmured.

One of the creatures came up to Lara and picked her up. Lara struggled against its grip.

"Hey!" She cried. "I can do it by myself."

"Judging from yer position and what happened earlier, I wouldn't try it kid."

Lara punched the figure's shoulder.

"Stop calling me kid!"

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**Hopefully that was good. It was definitely longer then the last one. Ok, now I need time to continue one with it. G'night!**


	4. Chapter 3 Please Tell Me Your Joking

"Holy Christ! You have GOT to be kidding me!" Lara growled as she was dropped into the sewer.

"Sorry kid, no jokes here. Well, sept for Mikey." One of the creatures laughed.

"Hey!" Another yelled.

"I told you to stop calling me kid!" Lara snapped.

Gracie tried to stop herself from giggling at the two, but did when Lara gave her a look.

"Uh..." She began "How long until we get there?"

"Not long." One of the creatures spoke.

They were all silent for a while as they walked down the long pathway to a large half-circle like thing on a wall. One of the creatures did something in the dark, and it opened.

The girls all shielded their eyes from the light as they stepped in.

"Home, sweet home!" One of the creatures laughed and jumped onto a couch.

The girls all looked at him, shocked.

Zoe screamed.

"Zoe!" Ava shouted over top of her and grabbed her hands. "Calm down!"

"Are you kidding me!" Zoe yelled. "What on Earth are they!"

Gracie had frozen up looking at them, nearly fainting at the sight.

"We're turtles." One of them spoke casually, as if they explained this sort of thing all the time.

"Sorry for not doing introductions earlier." Another said. "My name's Leo. This is Don here," He stepped aside and one of them gave a slight wave. "That's Mikey on the couch over there." Mikey wasn't paying attention, eyes glued on the TV in front of him. "And that's Raph, whose holding your friend there." The turtle finished.

Lara turned to Raph.

"What?" He asked. Lara smirked, and punched him in the face.

"Ow!" He cried. "What the shell was that for!"

"Don't call me kid!" Lara snapped.

"I didn't!"

"Raph, do you think you could bring her in here?" Don called, opening a door.

Lara grabbed Gracie's hand.

"You're coming with me." She ordered.

"Why me!" Gracie asked as she got dragged away with her.

"Because I don't know what they're gonna do with me, and I want someone who screams like it's the end of the world to come with me." Lara answered.

"So why didn't you grab Zoe?" Gracie looked around for her. Zoe had sat on the couch next to Mikey, eyes glued to the TV also.

"AWESOME!" She cried. "NEW HYDRO-GALEXY GAME CAME OUT! AVA CAN WE GET IT!"

Ava shook her head and smiled. Gracie gulped as she was taken into a dark room.

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"OW! FOR CHRIST'S SAKE THAT HURTS!"

"Sorry, but I told you, I don't have any sort of pain killer apart from one that you can buy at the supermarket!"

"AND I'VE TAKEN ABOUT 20 OF THOSE ALREADY SO BE CAREFULL!"

"I'M TRYING!"

Ava stared at the door where her sister and Don were. She shook her head and blew into the coffee mug in her hand.

"Uh..."

Ava turned to face Leo.

"Is your sister ok in there?" He asked. Ava shrugged.

"She's been through worse." She spoke and sipped her coffee.

"Worse than being shot?" He questioned.

"Yeah." Ava nodded. "She nearly got her finger cut off at one point."

"And that's worse than being shot?"

"When it's a shot in the leg yeah." Ava took another sip of her coffee.

Leo shook his head and walked off.

"Where are you going?" Ava asked.

"To do some meditation." Leo replied, looking over his shoulder. Ava bit her lip.

"Can I join?"

Leo turned to her with a bit of shock. He then nodded and she followed him into a room in the back.

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"Hey!" Mikey shouted over the game that he was playing. "That's not fair!"

"It's totally fair!" Zoe yelled after her car pulled out in front of Mikey, putting her in the lead. "Shortcuts are there to be used! You just don't like the thought of being beaten by a girl!"

"So? I can't believe you even like this game!" Mikey growled.

"I can't believe you've never PLAYED this game!" Zoe snapped back.

Mikey bumped Zoe's car.

"Hey! Stop that!" She ordered.

"Why? It's not against the rules!"

Zoe growled. The checkpoint at the end was close.

"I'm gonna beat you!" Mikey claimed.

"Nuh, uh! I'm going to win!" Zoe argued.

Their cars both bumped and shoved each other and the pair of them had determine looks upon their face, when finally

"I WIN!" Zoe cried. She got up and danced a little victory dance as Mikey grumbled in defeat.

I looked up at Zoe, who was waving her arms in the air in a joyful manner.

Her eyes were closed, and suddenly, Mikey pounced on her.

Zoe screamed in fear as she fell towards the floor and rolled around with Mikey, both trying to get on top.

"Ok! Fine!" Zoe laughed. "I give up! You win!"

She gasped as Mikey held both of her arms above her head. She was pinned.

The both chuckled a little when they finally looked in each other's eyes. Zoe gulped.

"Uh..." Mikey stuttered.

There was a slight pause, and the silence was almost defining.

"Awkward turtle?" Zoe suggested.

Mikey laughed and got off of her. He stood and helped pull her up.

"Yeah." He smirked. "Awkward turtle."

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"Ouch!" Lara cried again and clutched her leg.

"I'm sorry, but it needs to be done!" Don sighed as he stitched up the gaping hole there.

"Come on Lars. It's not that bad. At least you're alive." Gracie spoke.

Lara nodded and looked at the bullet that was sitting on the table beside her. She poked her tongue out at it.

"Lara!" Gracie cried.

"What!" Snapped Lara. "It's mocking me! Just look at it!" She pointed to the bullet and Gracie sighed. She looked up at Don.

"Thank you for this, by the way." Gracie murmured. "I know Lara won't say it because she's too proud."

"Hey! I'm still here!"

"But thank you." Gracie continued, ignoring Lara's interruption.

Don smiled at her.

"No problem."'

Lara looked between the two and scowled.

She got up from the bed, and began to walk out of the room.

"Lara! You're supposed to be healing! Get back on the bed!" Gracie exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I'd rather not be a witness to this mushy love fest you two got goin' on. See ya!" Lara sneered and left the room.

She walked into the lounge room and saw Mikey and Zoe laughing and joking with each other. Not wanting to be seen, she excited down the hallway and began opening doors to rooms.

One room seem like a big gym area, and in one of the corners of it, was a boxing bag.

"Now, you're talking!" Lara grinned and walked up to the bag. She looked around for boxing gloves, and frowned as she couldn't find any. Then she shrugged.

"I prefer to use my own fists anyway." She spoke to no one as slammed one into the bag. It shook lightly and Lara smirked.

"Perfect." She murmured as she took another strike.

She punched the bag left, right and centre, letting go of any anger she had out onto it. Soon, punching wasn't enough and she resorted to kicking it as well.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Slow down!" A voice spoke in the background. Lara didn't hear it or know who it was until someone touched her shoulder. Without thinking, she turned around and gave the person a left hook at their jaw, and they went down with a heavy 'thud'.

"Oh my God!" Lara exclaimed as she realised who it was. "You ok Raph!"

She bent down onto her knees to get a closer look at him.

He rubbed his jaw lightly.

"Nice punch kid." He spoke. Lara scowled and punched him on his shoulder. "What was that for!"

"I'm not a kid! I have a name ya know!" Lara snapped and blew some hair off of her face.

Raph rolled his eyes and stood up. Lara followed him up.

"Ya gotta slow down. Your gonna wear yourself out." Raph lectured.

"Like I care. I just gotta let out a bit of anger." Lara exclaimed and she turned around, ready to give the bag another punch.

"Ok then, if ya not gonna care about yerself, then I'm gonna have ta stop you. You're wearing out my punching bag." Raph spoke and grabbed her fist.

She pulled her hand out of it and growled. Raph laughed at this and looked down.

"Here's another reason to slow down. You're bleeding again." Raph said. Lara looked down and sure enough, blood was sticking to her leg.

"God damn it!" Lara scowled.

"Come on kid. I'll take ya to Don."

Raph knew that the punch to the shoulder was coming, but he didn't mind. It's the screaming of her name he couldn't handle.

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When Lara got her leg stitched back up (and finally agreed not to push herself so much until it had actually healed over), the girls were ready to leave.

All four of them stood at the door, across from the turtles.

"So," Ava spoke. "I guess this is goodbye."

She held out one of her hands and Leo shook it.

"Until we meet again." He replied.

"Can you guarantee it?" Ava questioned.

Leo shrugged.

"Bye Mikey!" Zoe shouted and tackled Mikey down to the ground. Mikey laughed and hugged her back.

"See ya dudette!" He grinned.

Gracie timidly held out her hand for Don, who shook it gently.

"See you some time?" He asked. Gracie smiled and nodded.

"Definitely."

Lara was scowling and looking down at the floor with her arms crossed.

"See ya 'round, kid." Raph smirked.

"Bye, old fart." Lara replied.

"WHAT!" Raph growled.

"You kept calling me kid, so I figured that it must mean that you're old. Old fart suits you perfect." Lara smirked.

Raph growled and held his fists up threateningly.

"If it wern't for you being a girl, I woulda..." Raph sneered

"Ooooh! I'm so scared. Ava help me, big, green and ugly is going to attack me." Lara mocked.

"Lara!" hushed Ava.

"What? He started it." Lara spoke and pointed to Raph.

Ava sighed.

"And on that note, we go." She murmured.

She turned around and the giant door opened up for her.

"See you guys later." Ava spoke as she walked through the door.

The others all followed with a chorus of goodbyes and waves, when finally, they disappeared out of sight.

Donatello sighed as the darkness consumed that.

"Are we ever going to see them again?" Mikey asked.

Leo just shrugged. "Maybe."

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**My email was down for awhile so I had no idea if I got any new comments or that I even got a few new subscribers. :) Thanks guys! **

**Any questions about anything, just ask. **

**And to answer yours Anonymous1209, the different characters are my own. Without them, there wouldn't be a story. Would it be easier if I put up a character profile or something? I've got an idea for it really. I'll you guys have to do is give me the word and I'll put it up. I'm going to have to make a few minor adjustments first though.**

**I have an idea for the next chapter, so I'm going to be writing it soon. **

**Ok, bye!**

**~ MR**


	5. Chapter 4 Gaming Girl

Zoe rested an arm on the balcony fence of her and her sister's apartment, sighing. Needless to say, she was bored.

She was playing a game on her playstation earlier, but she was up to a level that required two players. She would have asked her sisters to help, but all of them we're sleeping.

'_Where's Mikey when you need him?'_ She thought. Then suddenly, she got an idea.

Smirking, she sucked in a deep, deep breath, and screamed.

Her cry echoed around the night and her home. She looked around anxiously for a sign, anything, of her favourite orange-masked turtle. What she ended up with though, she did not expect.

"You screamed?" A voice spoke behind her.

Zoe turned around excitedly and the frowned.

"Oh. Hi Leo." Zoe murmured.

"You sound disappointed." He replied and took a couple of steps towards her.

"Yeah well... there's a game that I've been playing, and I'm kind of stuck on a certain level. I was hoping that Mikey could help me pass it." Zoe sighed.

"Mikey's busy."

"Doing what?"

Leo's thoughts went back to the lair, where Mikey was sitting on the couch, playing his own game on the TV. Leo shouted at Mikey that it was time to give it a rest, but Mikey just gave a murmured 'Ah ha' before continuing his game. Leo thought that his little brother didn't even pay attention to what he had said.

"Sleeping." Leo spoke.

Zoe frowned and they were both silent for awhile.

"I don't suppose..." Zoe began. "That you could play with me?"

Leo looked hesitant.

"I'm a bit busy tonight." He replied.

"But I screamed. Isn't that a sign of distress?"

Leo smiled a little.

"I suppose..." He murmured.

"Great!" Zoe grinned and grabbed Leo's hand, dragging him inside before he could even protest.

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"No!" Zoe cried. "It's X,O square, square, triangle, O, triangle, X! Not X, O, square, triangle, square, O, X, triangle!"

"How can you even remember all of these crazy moves!" Leo asked, whilst trying his best to dodge a giant monkey attack.

"I think of them mainly as my sisters. Lara is X, Ava is square, Gracie is a circle, and I'm a triangle." Zoe replied, her tongue poking out as she played.

Leo frowned and paused the game.

"How do you figure?" He asked. Zoe sighed.

"Lara is X because X's are what pirate's use to mark where their treasure is. Pirates are angry, and Lara is normally angry, therefore, Lara is X."

"So Lara's a pirate?" Leo smiled.

Zoe frowned, but then grinned.

"Yeah. I guess she is." She laughed.

"And the others?"

"Well, Ava's a square because... well, she is a 'square'. You know, the descriptive term? 'Fair, honest, ect.' And Gracie's a circle because she has circle shaped glasses." Zoe finished. "I just put myself as whatever was left over."

Leo nodded and Zoe pressed 'play' so they could continue their game.

A yawn was heard from the hallway and Gracie walked into the lounge.

"Hey Grace. What are you doing up?" Zoe asked without taking her eyes on the game.

"Zoe, it's nearly 8 in the morning." Gracie murmured and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She looked next to Zoe and began to blush lightly. She was still in her pyjamas.

"M-morning Leo." She murmured shyly, praying that he didn't see what she was wearing.

He turned to her. "Um... Morning Gracie." He replied, giving her a once over.

It was awkward enough with him seeing her in her pyjamas. What was on them however, made it even more awkward.

"Nice... um... turtles." Leo spoke.

Gracie blushed and looked down at her pj's. The blue background and green turtles on them seemed to really stand out this morning.

"Th-thanks." She stuttered.

Zoe paused the game and looked at her sister.

"Oh no. Gracie" Zoe sighed.

"What? How was I supposed to know that he was here?" Gracie replied.

"Did you honestly have to wear your pyjamas out of your room?"

"What's so bad about them?" Gracie demanded. "I've always liked turtles."

Another blush crawled onto her face as she realised what she said.

"Oh uh..." She murmured. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're playing 'Crazy Monkey Ape City 2'." Zoe smiled. Gracie frowned.

"Didn't I give you that game?" She asked

"Yeah. So?"

"You could've asked me to play." She muttered sadly.

"Yeah... well... you were sleeping." Zoe murmured.

Gracie turned to leave to her bedroom.

"I'm going to get changed. I've got work to get to." She called out as she walked off.

Zoe pressed play and the sounds of the game continued.

Leo almost missed Gracie's last words as she left the room.

"I was always here during other times."

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**Hopefully the character profiles were handy. I'm considering putting them in a separate thing and moving them to the front, but that involves effort. **

**Also, just for a random fact, I used to have a pair of turtle pyjamas :)**

**I made this poem thing for Lara, and I want to put it up, but that might get you guys confused. It's only one line anyway. Gosh this is moving a bit too slow for my taste, but that's my own fault. I wish I could skip up to the bit that I had written down before I even started writing this, but that's going to have to wait :(**

**Well, I should probably continue writing. I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Happy New Year!**

**~ MR **

**{Edited. I have moved the character profiles to the start of the story, like I originally should have. Have a nice day! :) }**


	6. Chapter 5 Shopping Day

**If you don't understand, I forgot to mention that there is actually a little bit of story at the end of the character profile. You may now all throw your rocks at me. Please, no toasters. They hurt a lot when I am trying to get my fingers and knifes out of them.**

**...**

**Eh, smite me.**

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Ava, Lara and Zoe were walking down a street, trying to find a clothes shop. After Leo had finally realised the time (can you imagine Leo losing track of the time?) he had wondered how exactly he was going to get home.

The girls all offered to help, but were unsure of how to do it.

"I need a disguise of some sort."Leo spoke to them.

"A disguise huh?" Zoe smiled. "You know what that means?"

"Oh God no." Lara sighed.

Zoe could hardly contain her squeal.

"SHOPPING!"

"Not for me thanks." Gracie spoke up.

"Great!" Lara smiled. "I'll stay here with you!"

Gracie rolled her eyes. "I mean I'm working. And I'm already late! Bye, try and have fun Lara!" She called as she left the room.

Lara scowled as she was dragged along on the trip. It wasn't long until they had made it to a street full of clothes shops.

"What about that one?" Zoe asked, pointing to one of the clothes shops on the side.

"Hmm. 'Men Only'. Sounds more like sexist comment." Ava spoke. Lara gave a light smirk and Zoe sighed.

"We've been doing this for hours! Could we at least walk in one!" Zoe begged.

"Why can't we just go to Target or something?" Lara asked.

"Because! It needs to be something stylish!" Zoe cried.

"I got this top from K-mart." Ava said. Zoe sighed.

"Fine. Let's just go to the mall."

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Wandering around in the men's section, the three girls all looked around and scanned for clothes for Leo.

"Did anyone happen to catch his size?" Zoe asked as she held up a blue and black plaid patterned shirt.

"Or what he likes." Lara murmured.

"Well. Maybe he likes blue stuff? He does wear a blue bandana." Ava spoke as she glanced at a dark blue t-shirt.

"Maybe this!" Zoe cried as she pulled out a blue hoodie with a dark green symbol on it. "it just screams 'Leonardo'!"

The other girls glanced at it and shrugged.

"I guess if he's got the hood up then it would be less conspicuous." Ava replied as she looked at it.

"Now just to figure out how big he is." Zoe said as she flicked through the rack. She pulled up the last jacket. "This is the biggest size."

"Alright, it'll do." Ava sighed.

"Great! Let's go." Lara spoke.

"Excuse me? You expect him to just walk out PANTLESS!" Zoe nearly screamed. This managed to get a few people looking at her, before continuing their shopping.

"Fine. One pair of pants and that's it." Lara growled.

"And some shoes."

"Gah! Just finish the shopping without me then!" Lara snapped and then turned, storming off.

Zoe watched her as she stomped away.

"What's her problem?" She asked.

Ava watched her sister walk off with curious eyes.

"I'm not sure." She replied. "But I'm going to find out."

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Lara scowled as she walked through the mall and onto the street beside it.

She made her way through a sea of people, and out to a place where the buildings were all abandoned, and the people were scarce. This is around the place where Lara goes when she gets bored. Eventually, someone will come out to play with her.

And someone did.

"What's a beauty like you doing out in a place like this?" A voice asked. Lara smirked and turned around.

"I don't know." She spoke. "What's a freak like you doing out of your cage?"

The man growled. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh I hope I do." Lara smiled as she got ready.

The man charged at her with a warning yell, and Lara grabbed his shoulder and high-jumped over him.

"Is that the best you've got?" Lara taunted. The man turned around and pulled out a pocket knife.

"Cheat." She murmured before running up to him. He swiped at her with his knife, but she dodged it and kicked the knife out of his hand.

Lara angrily hit the man's gut and then elbowed his head, making him fall to the ground.

"Come on you asshole!" Lara screamed. "Fight me!"

She gave him another kick to the side and the man groaned in pain.

"Fight me!"

"Lara!"

Lara's head shot up and she could see Ava's angry stature looking at her.

"What do you want Wonder Woman?" Lara sneered.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Letting out some anger. Whats it look like?"

"Why are you angry?"

Lara glanced away.

"Well?"

"Look Av. I'd love to stay and play twenty questions with you, but I'm busy."

"Doing what?'

"None of your business!"

Ava crossed her arms.

"Lara." She spoke sternly. "I'm am your sister. It's my job to be concerned. What is wrong?"

Lara bit her lip.

"It's not important." She replied

"To you it is." Ava urged. "Now what is it?"

Lara shook her head.

"It's just that... Today was..." Lara looked at the ground and tried her best to stop the tears from falling.

It wasn't long until Ava had made her way in front of her and had wrapped her arms around her.

"I know Lars." Ava whispered into her hair. "I know. He's gone now."

Lara sobbed into her older sisters shoulders.

"Life will get better Lara. He's never coming back."

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**I figured that it was time I updated.**

**...**

**I have no idea what I'm doing. **


	7. Chapter 6 Library Time

Gracie had made her way to the library in record time. Unfortunately, two trips on two different trams, both arriving and leaving at the same spot, then taking a bus down an un-trammed street, them having to run through a park, across a school yard and then over a busy street left Gracie rather tired.

Her hair that had been carefully tied back in a bun, with 10 bobby pins, had fallen out halfway to look like some 'I slept with a side-ponytail' hair, and eight of the ten bobby pins had mysteriously gone missing. A paper that she didn't even know was there had been unassembled and clumsily re-assembled in her hand that held the library door open. Her satchel which had been neatly packed and done up, was open and her lunch in it had come out of its container from the hustle and bustle.

Gracie put her glasses on properly (as they sat sideways on her face) and she walked through the heavy door, trying to proper herself up. She walked calmly to her seat behind a desk and gently plonked her satchel on the floor. She pulled her hair out as her breath evened from all the running, and brought out a mirror from a draw. She put the two bobby pins in her mouth and raked her hands through her hair, before trying to put it all back in place.

Eventually, she gave up and instead opted for a simple ponytail, the bobby pins keeping a slight fringe back.

"I see that you are just on time this morning Grace." A voice said from behind a stack of shelves.

"Please make sure that the next time you come in for work, you at least look slightly presentable."

"Yes Mrs Thatcher." Gracie sighed.

She pulled a bottle of water out of her satchel and took a swig of it before turning her computer on.

A few minutes later the thing started up and Gracie logged in.

Her eyes wandered down to the bottom of the screen, just to see how close she really was to being late. Her sight moved towards the date (you know, just to check if she actually HAD to work that day) and she nearly fell off her chair.

She reached for her mobile and rang up Zoe.

"Hey, you've reached Zo. Leave a message. Beep!" Came from the other side.

"Hey Zo?"

"Damn it! How'd you know it wasn't message bank?" Zoe cried.

Gracie rolled her eyes.

"Because the only thing that sounds like a message bank beep, IS a message bank beep. You fail at the mimic. Anyway, where's Lara?"

"She ran off a while ago. Ava followed her and left me to do the shopping. What's up?"

"Zoe, do you have any idea what the date is today?" Grace asked.

She could tell that Zoe shook her head from the response. No sound.

"Check the date."

"On what?"

"Anything! Ask the stranger next to you if you have to!"

Zoe was quiet.

"How'd you know there was someone next to me?"

"I'm a physic." Gracie sighed.

"I knew it!"

"I was being sarcastic!" Gracie snapped. "Now check the date!"

A bit of movement was heard over the phone, followed by a gasp.

"Oh no." Zoe whispered.

"Exactly." Gracie spoke. "Now get Lara home!"

"Grace! No phone calls during work!" A voice called.

"Sorry!" Gracie spoke back, muttering something about libraries being quiet.

"Don't worry Gracie. I'm on it. Bye!"

The phone was hung up before Gracie could even begin to say goodbye.

"That's what I'm worried about." Gracie muttered

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**Just a quick question. **

**Bad Guy – Make my own, or get one from the TV show?**

**And if one from the TMNT, which one?**

**Also, I have a fair idea of what I'm going to do. I'm just not sure about what I'm doing yet. Just in case you guys got confused (cause I know I did :\ )**

**Ok so, kidnapping, alien attack, or 'someone losing their shit.' One, two or three of those may be happening. I just don't know how (I should have made a basic plot before I wrote this. Lol)**

**Anyway, thanks for the tips guys, I'll be sure to put them into good use! **

**Here's hoping that we get a little bit more action in the next one. The last few chapters have been feeling a bit bland. **

**Hope that leaves you guys to ponder stuff (who am I? How did I get here? Are the turtles real? Why is there a really large cat eating chocolate on my sofa?)**

**Bye! ~ MR**


	8. Chapter 7 Oreos and what?

By the time that Zoe had made it back to the apartment, Ava and Lara were already there.

"Lara!" Zoe gasped. "Are you ok?"

Lara sent her a death glare and Zoe looked at her questionably.

"All you had to say was no."

"I'm fine." Lara snapped.

"Are you sure? I mean, I could go out and get some Oreos and peanut butter if you like."

"I said I'M FINE!"

"Oreos and what?" A voice asked. Zoe turned and screamed.

Leo stared at her.

"I thought we'd gotten over the screaming." He murmured.

"Right." Zoe smiled and took in a breath. "Sorry."

She threw him a plastic bag full of clothing, and sat down next to Lara.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Zoe urged.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of the date!" Zoe cried.

"How do you even know what the date is?" Lara asked.

Zoe smiled. "Gracie told me."

Lara rolled her eyes.

"Figures."

"Hey!" Zoe shouted. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"It means that you hardly pay any attention to the date or time, ever!" Lara snarled.

"Zoe." A voice spoke. Zoe's head turned to face Ava.

"Please. Calm down."

"But she-!"

"Please Zoe. You know what day it is." Ava reasoned.

Zoe looked between her and Lara.

"Fine." She spoke and crossed her arms.

"What day is it today?" Leo asked from across the room.

The girl's faces all turned towards him. They had forgotten he was there.

"I mean, if you don't mind me asking." Leo spoke, covering up his tracks and trying to get rid of the accusing looks he was getting.

"It's Monday." Lara spoke in a monotone.

"Yeah, but what's so special about the date?"

The girls were silent and looked between each other.

Zoe bit her lip.

"Today's the day when-"

Lara gave Zoe a swift kick in the leg.

"Ouch!" Zoe cried and held onto her aching calf. "What was that for!"

"It's my problem." Lara said sternly. "I'll tell him when I want to."

Zoe sighed. "Fine."

The room was silent again, and one by one the girls left the room, leaving Leo by himself.

He pulled on the blue hoodie, black jeans and surprisingly large shoes that Zoe had given him. Though a little snug in some places, he found the outfit quite pleasing.

Ava came out a few minutes later.

"I'm going to go." Leo spoke. Ava nodded.

"Stay safe." She replied. Leo nodded to her and pulled up the hood. He walked out of the apartment and down a few flights of stairs, trying to seem as calm as possible.

When he made it to the streets, he found an ally way with a sewer hole in it, and then jumped in.

He took off his clothes, put them in the plastic bag he had brought with him and ran to his home.

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Leo walked through the door and shouted out "I'm home!"

"Dude! Where've ya been?" Mikey asked as he jumped over the couch.

"Yeah Fearless. I thought we were supposed to do patrol tonight?" Raph smirked. "Although the sleep-in this morning wasn't too bad."

"I told you guys before. He was on Barkley Avenue. A place called 'Marly Apartments', in apartment block 375." Don sighed. "What were you doing there by the way?"

Leo walked calmly passed his brothers.

"I was checking on the girls." He answered. The others laughed and wolf whistled.

"You mean checking OUT the girls. Gosh that little fiery one was so hot!" Mikey grinned, and was rewarded with a swift smack to the head.

"Watch yer mouth!" Raph snapped.

"Yeah Mikey. Treat the girls with a little respect." Don agreed. Mikey shrugged.

"I'm just saying."

"Yeah well, sayin's gonna get ya into trouble Mikey." Raph spoke as he walked past him.

"Zoe was looking for you by the way." Leo called back. "Said something about wanting you to help her pass a level on some crazy money 2 or something."

"CRAZY MONKEY APE CITY 2!" Mikey cried. "Oh come on man!"

"I take it you've heard of it?" Donny smiled.

"Dude! Its only like the best Crazy Monkey Ape City game there is! Next to Crazy Monkey Ape City 1." Mikey smiled.

"And by the sounds of it, there are only the two, so they must be pretty good in that one category." Laughed Don.

Mikey sighed, but still smiled.

"Whatever."

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**I am SO sorry this took so long! And it's still lame. -_-" But at least I have turtles! I am writing the next one ASAP. Hopefully its quick. Eh.**

**I also hope that Hun doesn't have a time limit on him... otherwise I'm buggered. **

**Anyway, toodle-loo!**

**~MR**


	9. Chapter 8 Is this a joke?

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF..." Gracie screamed. It had been the fifth time in the last 10 minutes. Her room looked as if a bomb had hit it. Books, clothes and other things had been thrown amongst the floor in her search.

"Gracie what's wrong?" Zoe asked. Gracie sat down on her bed in frustration.

"The one time I actually find a dress that I LIKE and I can't find my flipping wallet!" She cried.

"When was the last time you had it?"

"In my hand bag!"

"And when was the last time you had that?" Zoe spoke.

Gracie thought back for a bit and then her face fell.

"When we went partying. OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY ME!" She shouted.

"Calm down Gracie. It's ok." Zoe giggled.

"Are you kidding me? It could be anywhere! It could be behind a bunch of dumpsters, it could be in the sewer... heaven forbid it be in the next trash sight! Aw! It could even be in the OCEAN by now!" Gracie sighed.

"Why don't you just ask the turtles if they know where it is?" Zoe asked.

"Oh sure, I'll just ring them up on their non-existent phone number." Gracie snapped.

"But they do have a phone. I saw it on a wall." Zoe murmured.

Gracie put her face in her hands.

"Gahahahaa." She groaned. "I don't know their number."

"So later on tonight, go onto that balcony and scream." Zoe said.

"What good will that do!" Gracie demanded.

"Worked with Leonardo." Zoe shrugged. "And if you get Mikey, can you get him to play Crazy Monkey Ape City 2 with me? Leo kinda sucked at it."

Gracie sighed and nodded. "Fine."

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"Is this someone's idea of a sick joke!" Don demanded.

"What is it?" Raph asked. Don held up what looked to be a purple handbag with two butterflies on it, and a turtle keychain.

Mikey immediately began laughing.

"So it was YOU!" Donny cried and threw that bag at him.

"No way dude, that isn't mine!" Mikey laughed. "Funny as shell though."

"What's going on guys?" Leo asked as he walked into the room.

"Someone planted this bag in my lab." Don spoke and handed Leo the bag. Leo looked at it.

"Maybe it's one of the girls." He said.

"Sweet!" Mikey smiled. "Can we return it?"

"Later. We'll take it with us when it's time to patrol." Leo replied and sat the bag down on the table. "Don't forget it." He pointed to Don.

"I won't." Don spoke, then turned to head back to his lab.

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Gracie stood outside the apartment on the balcony, a blanket wrapped tightly around her to protect her from the cold.

"I don't know why on Earth I'm doing this." She sighed. "I can't even scream very well."

"Just do it!" Zoe called from the room behind her, and closed the glass door.

Gracie snorted and took in a deep breath.

'_Here go's.'_ She thought.

She let out a long scream, which even though it lasted a while, she still felt that it wasn't convincing. There were a few breaks or shudders as if she were being thrown around.

Looking around for a total of five minutes, she got annoyed.

"Are they here yet?" Zoe asked.

"Nope!" Gracie snapped. "They're not coming! I knew it wouldn't work!"

She turned and began to walk off inside when someone dropped in front of her. This time, she let out a real scream.

"What! I'm not that scary, am I?" The shadow asked.

"MIKEY!" Zoe screamed and tackled the shadow to the ground, laughing.

"What the shell are we? Chopped liva?" Another shadow spoke.

"Awe, do you want a hug too Raph?" Zoe giggled and stood up.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good." Raph said and stepped back.

"Too bad hero!" Zoe laughed as she ran towards him.

"Oh no, hey! Get away from me kid!" Raph cried as he ran. Zoe chased him, laughing and screaming as she did.

"Hey Zoe! Didn't you want to play that monkey game with Mikey?" Gracie spoke, distracting the girl.

Zoe stopped.

"Oh yeah!" She smiled and ran up to grab Mikey's hand. "I'll get you yet Raph!" She cried as she went inside.

Gracie smiled and turned to face the three remaining turtles.

"Do you happen to know where a purple purse is? It's got a butterfly and turtle on it." She asked.

Don nodded and pulled the bag out from behind him. Gracie found it better not to question where he put it.

She smiled gratefully.

"Thanks!" She spoke as she turned around and walked inside. The other three watched her and Gracie could feel the eyes on her back. She suddenly felt nervous again.

"Do... uh... you guys want to come in?" She asked. They all shrugged but followed her in anyway.

As soon as they entered, Lara walked into the lounge. Noticing that there were four new bodies in the room, she rolled her eyes, muttered an 'Oh for the love of God' and turned back to her room.

"Uh, Lara? Are you ok?" Gracie called out after her.

"Yeah, just peachy!" Lara replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What's the matter with her?" Don asked. Gracie bit her lip and Zoe paused the game.

"Should we tell them?" She asked.

Gracie thought.

"I don't know." She muttered. "They did save our lives, but I still don't know if we should trust them."

"Well they did bring back your bag."

"But we should really let Lara tell them. It involves her."

"But it also involves us." Zoe finished.

The turtles watched the two with curiosity.

Ava walked into the room.

"Tell them. I'm going to work." She spoke as she pulled on a black jacket and left the room. They waited until the door closed, signalling Ava's departure. Gracie looked up at the boys faces.

"She's a bouncer at a cheap club." She answered their silent question.

The room was silent for awhile.

"Sit down." Zoe commanded. "I'll go get some drinks."

The four boys sat down and Gracie rubbed her forehead nervously.

"Well." She spoke. "It all began like this..."

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**Making this up as I go! But anyway. Now you get to find out an exciting part!... Now I get to figure out what it is. Lol. Any suggestions? Maybe involve a certain 'Hunny Bunny'? lol sorry. Had to throw that in there.**


	10. Chapter 9 A Story From the Past

**Three Years Earlier.**

Lara looked through the window of her room. She was bored, but that was no surprise. Ever since her dad had gotten a job in New York, there were a lot of changes.

For one, they had to move home. At first, Lara was fine with it, but later she learned that it was one of the biggest mistakes in her life.

"Lara, we're home!" Her mother called. Lara scowled.

'Stupid Ava and her yoga class. Stupid Gracie and her study group. Stupid Zoe and her ballet.' She thought angrily. 'And stupid mum for not letting me do boxing.'

"How was your day dear?" Her mother, Marie asked as she entered Lara's bedroom.

"Boring." Lara snapped.

"Well if you had just joined up with a group like I had suggested-"

"I WANT to join a boxing class but YOU won't let me! And you KNOW how I feel about the things that the rest of the guys do!" Lara complained.

"Well, I did give you a list of things to consider."

"You know how I feel about any type of school or music activity. And out of all the things I want to do, and non-contact sport doesn't count."

Marie sighed. "I just want you to be safe."

"Safe? SAFE! We live in one of the most crime infested cities in the WORLD, and you want to keep me safe! HA!" Lara cried and ran out of her room, down the stairs and out the front door.

Her anger boiling inside her didn't stop her actions as she sped past houses, street by street until she had made her way deep into the city.

"Stupid mum, stupid dad, stupid sisters!" She shouted as she walked down a dark alley way and onto a deserted street. She huffed and crossed her arms as the cold began to roll in. Looking up, she noticed that night time had been steadily approaching.

She growled and yelled and hit random objects in stupidity, making as much noise as she possibly could. When she had begun to calm down and take in deep gasps of breath, she could hear someone laughing behind her.

She gasped and turned around to see the outline of a man in the darkness.

"Looks like someone has a little attitude problem." The person spoke. Fear evaporated from Lara and she became angry

"I'll show you 'attitude problem." She spoke.

Running up to the man without a second thought, she lunged for him and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back out of surprise, than growled.

"I'll teach you a lesson for that girly!"

"GIRLY!" Lara snapped before punching the man in the face and tripping him back.

She sat on his stomach and gave him blow after blow across his face.

"I-MAY-BE-FEMALE-BUT-I-AM-NOT-GIRLY!" She shouted. Blood and bruises had been strewn across the man's face.

When he finally stopped moving, Lara stood up and spat on his face.

"That'll teach you." She snapped and turned around. She looked up when the sound of clapping echoed around her and two men came out of the shadows.

Lara got ready to fight again, but realised that the clapping wasn't coming from either of them.

Then, a tall, bulky built man stepped out of the shadows and Lara's breathe caught in her throat.

"Wh-who are you?" She stuttered. The man smiled.

"You will find out soon enough, but in the mean time, I have a proposition for you." He spoke.

Lara furrowed her eyebrows.

"What kind of proposition?" She asked. The man crossed his arms and turned.

"Follow me and find out."

The other two men followed after him as they disappeared in the shadows.

Lara bit her lip hesitantly and looked around. The darkness of the night had crept in on her, and there was no light on the street save for two lone street lamps.

"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid." She murmured quietly to herself.

It wasn't long before she found herself running through the shadows, and accidently running into the man and letting out an 'Oomph!'

"So your coming then?" He smirked as he looked at her.

Lara grinned nervously and shrugged. The man looked forward.

The four of them made their way to an abandoned warehouse. It was huge.

As they walked through it, all eyes were on them. Or, more specifically, her.

Lara nervously rubbed her hands together as she looked around. Fear hit her as news reports of rapes and murders engulfed her mind. She gulped.

'I hope I didn't make the wrong decision coming here.' She thought.

Suddenly, two baseball bats were put in a crossway in front of her and she stopped.

The man continued until he stopped and turned around. He sat down on a huge chair, which succeeded in making him look bigger. Now that he was in the light, Lara took a better look at him.

The man had a strong, square jaw and long blonde hair that had been done in a low pony tail. Along the side of his cheeks were three marks, looking like deep claw scratches. Then Lara noticed something that made her stop breathing. On his arm was a tattoo of a purple dragon.

She remembered her dad telling her that the Purple Dragons were a gang of notorious thieves who liked to stir trouble in the city of New York.

And Lara was in their hideout.

She took in deep breathes in order to stop herself from having a panic attack.

'It's ok.' She thought. 'They don't know who you are. They don't know where you live. They don't know your father is-'

"So" The man spoke, interrupting her thoughts. "Do you know the group of which you are with?"

Lara bit her lip and nodded.

The man smiled. "Good. Then I suppose you would like to hear the proposition."

Lara nodded.

"I would like you to join us."

Lara felt shocked.

"What!"

"You handled yourself quite well back there. You took down one of my men easily."

'That was one of his men!'

"You don't have a problem with joining do you? Because, if you say no, then we can't exactly let you live."

Nothing seemed to wipe the evil smile off the man's face. Lara felt fear creep its way inside her again.

"W-why not? I get bored easily at home." She confessed and the man stood up and held out his hand.

"Welcome."

And from then on, the Purple Dragon's base was like her second home. One where she felt as if she were needed. She left home frequently to go visit them and train. Occasionally, she even went out on jobs to teach some poor sucker a lesson for not paying their protection money on time.

Of course, none of her leavings went un-noticed. Every day when she would return home, her father would ask where she had been and her mother would look at her with worry. But Lara, only said that she went for a walk and that she was fine. Occasionally, she came home with bruises on her body and her mother would ask if she's been in a fight. Lara would shake her head and claim that she just fell over.

Although one day, Lara, being Lara, snapped.

"Why can't you guys just leave me alone and mind your own business!" She demanded. Her mother and father jumped in surprise at her outburst, and her sisters spectated the scene with wide eyes.

"We are only trying to take care of you dear." Her mother ushered.

Lara screamed and ran out the door.

Her father put a hand to his chin.

"I don't trust her." He murmured and turned around. "Ava. You're in charge until your mother and I get back. We're going out to see where Lara is going."

Ava nodded as she held both of her sister's hands, looking protective.

"Come on Marie, we'll take the police cruiser while the car is out for a service."

Marie nodded and followed her husband out.

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Gracie bit her lip.

"Go on Gracie." Don urged. "What happens?"

"Well... it's kind of hazy from then on for us. Only Lara knows-"

"It wasn't long until I realised Mama and Papa were following me." A voice interrupted.

All the faces turned to see standing Lara in the doorway, leaning on the door frame and looking off to the side.

"Of course they didn't know that. I tried my best to shake them off but they kept finding me. I thought I'd lost them when I reached the warehouse, but..."

Lara closed her eyes tightly at the painful memory.

"When I went inside, the boss was not happy at all when he found out that I had been followed. Or that my dad was the chief of police at the time."

She let out a shaky breathe and looked up at their faces.

"I don't know how, but a fire started. I had just made it outside, but when I ran to the police cruiser, no-one was inside."

Lara's eyes began to fill up with water and tears streamed down their face.

"I heard their screams from outside. Mama's, Papa's and everyone else's." She choked on a sob. "I had led my own parents to their deaths."

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**Well that was fun to write. Anyone get confused? Let me know please! Also, I'm happy that I got one that's not THAT boring out there. :) **

**Sorry it took so long! I blame school. But, I want an education so... whatever. **

**BYE!**

**~ MR**


	11. Chapter 10 The Morning After

Ava rubbed her head gently as she made her way up the stairs to their apartment. A fight had gone off at the front of the club, and Ava was made to separate them. One of the drunk buffoons hit her with a bottle in the process, which caused the purple mark on her face.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her keys to open the door. When she did, she was surprised to see a bit of light and hear some music. When she locked the door and walked into the lounge, she smiled at the seven sleeping bodies in front of her, watching what seemed to be the ending credits of 'Milo & Oatis'.

She looked over at their positions as she walked over to turn off the TV. Mikey was sitting on a chair with Zoe snuggling up comfortably on his lap. Raph and Lara had been laying on the floor next to each other, but seemed to be refusing to touch each other. Leo had sat next to Gracie, but his head had rested on his arm as he slept. Gracie and Don had sat next to each other, and Gracie's head had leant on his shoulder. Don's arm rest on the top of the couch behind her, but it looked as if her were holding her.

Ava thought about this as she went to the cupboard and threw blankets on the lot of them. She made her way to her room, but stopped and turned around. Grabbing a blanket for herself, she pulled a bean bag over to the area where everyone was sleeping. She got comfortable in it, pulled the blanket over herself, and fell asleep.

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Zoe woke up earlier then everyone else and found herself in warm arms. She blinked a few times before looking up at the green figure. She quickly clasped her hands over her mouth to prevent a scream from escaping before she realised that it was just Mikey.

Zoe lifted up the blanket she had on, carefully stood up and placed the blanket back down. Looking around the room, she giggled at the sights before her. Leo's head had slumped forward and he was now sleeping on an odd angle, snoring lightly. Lara and Raph had been sharing a blanket and snuggled in together, most likely to keep warm. Gracie's head had fallen into Donnie's lap, and his arm lay on her waist protectively. Then Zoe noticed Ava sitting in the fetal position on the bean bag.

Zoe nodded in response, then walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. She brought a pancake batter out from the fridge and poured some into a fry pan. Whilst the pancake was cooking, she put out a plate, ready to fill. She needed a lot of pancakes this morning.

Suddenly, a thought rose into Zoe's brain and she smiled. The door of the kitchen opened and Zoe turned around to face Ava.

"I have a plan." She spoke.

Ava looked at her with curiosity.

"Good morning to you too." She spoke. "Now what crazy idea have you thought of now?"

Zoe led Ava into the lounge.

"See?" She asked. Ava blinked.

"See what?"

"That!" Zoe exclaimed. "Gracie and Don!"

"Yeah. Raph and Lara. You and Mikey!" Ava said. "You all slept together. What of it?"

"Don't you think they'd make a cute couple?" Zoe grinned mischievously .

Ava stared at her.

"No." She spoke before turning into the kitchen.

"Ok, ok." Zoe followed her. "So Raph and Lara don't get along that well, but what about Gracie and Donnie? They're so much alike!"

"So are you and Mikey." Ava snapped.

"Yeah! But I act like the cuddly type of person with everyone. I don't see Mikey that way." Zoe confessed.

"And how do you know that Gracie feels that way about Donnie?"

Zoe paused.

"I don't." She answered.

"Exactly." Ava spoke. "So why would you even suggest this?"

"Well..." Zoe bit her lip. "Because Gracie's never... really... ever been in a relationship before. With a non-related guy I mean."

Ava rubbed her head.

"I don't know."

"Come on Av! You've got the BEST game plans in that noggin of yours! Please help me get them together? Please, please, please!" Zoe begged.

Ava looked at her baby sister, who was trying her best to pout. At her age, it shouldn't work. But with her looks...

"Fine." Ava snapped. "But it's your fault if it goes pair shaped."

"Yes!" Zoe cheered. She giggled for a bit when she sniffed.

Ava copied.

"Is something burning?" She asked. Zoe gasped.

"My pancakes!"

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Zoe finished making a huge pile of pancakes. She smiled at her work.

She set up a fan at the kitchen door and opened the door. She sat a table in front of the fan, and then put the stack of pancakes on top of it. Then, she turned the fan on.

"Breakfast's ready." She said loudly. She smiled as the smell of hot pancakes wafted through the apartment.

Then there was a scream.

"Lara!" Ava shouted.

Gracie rubbed her sleepy eyes as she pulled herself up from Donatello's lap.

"What happened?" She yawned. A light blush crossed Don's face when he realised the position they were in.

"That creep touched me!" Lara accused, pointing a finger at Raph.

"In case ya forgot there kid, you came onto me last night." Raph spoke.

Lara growled, picked up a random object, and hit him over the head with it.

"I'M NOT A KID!" She screamed.

Raph rubbed his aching skull as the others around him laughed.

Then Mikey's eyes shot open.

"PANCAKES!" He cried, jumped up and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed the stack and went back into the lounge gleefully.

"So." He spoke, his mouth full of pancake and syrup. "What are you guys having for breakfast?"

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Half a dozen pancakes each later, the guys found themselves in a sudden dilemma. They had forgotten the time, realised the sun was up and also remembered that they didn't have a disguise to get back to the lair in.

Which meant that the girls had to go shopping. Again.

"What's the issue with it? You did it last time, didn't you?" Don asked.

"Last time we had just enough money to buy the clothes. Leo's clothes. We can't help it if we haven't got the cash." Ava replied as she continued to wash the dishes.

Don sighed and turned to his brothers.

"Well Fearless, what do we do?" Raph asked.

Leo crossed his arms.

"Well I guess we stay here." He spoke.

"Oh great." Lara muttered.

"I'll call Master Splinter to let him know." Don volunteered as he walked into the hallway with his shell cell.

"Master who?" Zoe asked.

"Master Splinter. He's our father." Leo answered.

"Awe!" Zoe gushed. "Is he a turtle too?"

"No. He's a rat." Raph snapped.

Zoe stared at him for a few moments before frowning.

"That's not nice."

"No, he really is a rat. As in a big, hairy, rodent rat." Mickey smiled.

Zoe crossed her arms.

"Well with comments like that I don't know if I'd want to be your dad either." She spoke.

"No, Zoe, Master Splinter is an actual mutant rat." Leo replied.

Zoe looked at all three of them.

"You're mean!" She snapped as she turned and walked out of the kitchen.

The turtles all watched her with curious eyes.

"Is she serious?" Mikey asked. Lara shrugged and walked out of the room. Gracie followed.

"She's been acting a little childish since... well... you know." Ava murmured. "It's something we don't like to talk about."

The room was filled with an awkward silence.

"I'll just... uh... go see how the girls are." Raph spoke as he left the room.

Mikey looked at Ava and then Leo. Leo just smirked at him and left the room.

Then Mikey swallowed hard.

"Something wrong?" Ava asked as she looked over her shoulder to him.

"Uh... nah. Nothing." Mikey stuttered as he walked over beside her.

"Need help?" He asked. Ava smiled appreciatively and handed him the towel to dry the dishes.

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Zoe was sitting in front of the TV, a game controller in her hands. Raph was beside her, swearing at his controller.

"Come on Raph! Get in the zone!" Zoe smiled and nudged him playfully.

Raph growled as he tried to punch in the shapes to get his person to attack Zoe.

"I thought that kicking people's shells was what you were good at Raph." Lara laughed behind him.

He scowled. Fighting was his forte. Fighting on a game? Not so much.

"Gosh Raph, you suck!" Lara continued.

"Yeah well, I'm not really one to play these stupid things." He defended. Gracie laughed at his pathetic attempt.

Lara just smiled from her place on the couch when Don walked in and sat next to her.

"Hey, how'd it go?" She asked.

"He's a little grumpy at us for not coming back, but I think he'll be fine." Don shrugged.

Laughter was then heard from the kitchen and all heads turned curiously. The girls all stood up and silently walked to the door, taking a quick peek.

There was Ava and Mikey, covered in soap, water and bubbles. Ava was throwing the bubbles at Mikey, who was trying to defend himself with the towel.

The girls smiled.

"She hasn't laughed like that in a while." Gracie murmured as she stepped back from the door.

"Yeah." Lara agreed and moved back onto the couch.

Zoe stayed there watching. Gracie looked at her, wondering what she was doing. A thought crossed her mind that maybe Zoe liked Mikey. She bit her lip.

"Hey Zoe!" Lara spoke. "You're losing!"

"What!" Zoe cried and turned around to continue playing the game. Lara had lied, but Raph had almost caught up.

She smirked then looked up at the clock.

"Damn it!" Lara murmured. Standing up, she turned off the game system and faced Zoe.

"Hey!" Zoe cried. "I was winning!"

"Yeah. And you're losing at getting ready for work." Lara pointed out.

Zoe looked at the clock and had a mini panic attack as she ran to her room. Lara walked down to her own room to get changed as well.

Both of the girls came out of their rooms at the same time.

"See ya later everyone!" Zoe called out behind her as she and Lara left the apartment.

Gracie had also walked out of her room with her messenger bag around her shoulders.

"I'm going to work too." She spoke as she headed for the door. "Bye guys!"

The apartment door closed again. Now there was only Ava to take care of the needs of four, mutant turtles.

The dishes were finally done and Ava had let out a yawn.

"Tired?" Mikey asked her. She nodded as she walked out into the lounge, putting her hands on her back and stretching a little.

"Maybe you should go to sleep?" Don suggested.

"Are you sure? There isn't really much to do here, so it'd be hard to find entertainment otherwise."

"We should be fine." Leo spoke, assuring her. Ava gave them a tired smile and yawned again.

"Alright." She said. "Stay out of trouble guys."

The others laughed as they watched her retreating back head to her bedroom. The heard the door close with a light 'click' when she was out of sight. Mikey sat on the couch.

"So, what now?"

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**Sorry this took a while, but I made it extra long for you guys. :) **

**And don't worry! I am getting there to show you who's in 3 with who. ... Yeah lol.**

**And questions? Suggestions? Commentions? **

**Anyway... Bye!**

**~MR**


	12. Chapter 11 Sneaky Ninja Turtles

The turtles had sat down on the couch, watching TV, for hours. Occasionally, they had even fallen asleep. But the Mikey couldn't take it.

"Come ON! There has to be SOMETHING we can do!" He cried. Don shushed him, reminding him that Ava was sleeping. Mikey crossed his arms and pouted when an idea came into his head.

"Let's go exploring!" He smiled.

"Where? We can't go outside." Raph snapped.

Mikey just smirked mischievously, then stood up and crept down the hallway.

"Where is he going?" Don asked. Leo turned off the TV as they followed him down the hallway.

The three of them watched as Mikey sneaked down the hallway and opened one of the doors. He snickered as he went in.

"Mikey!" Leo whispered harshly. "That's one of the girl's rooms!"

Don, Raph and Leo walked up to the door and peeked in. The room was covered with clothes. The walls had posters of celebrities such as Chris Brown, Brittney Spears and Zac Efron. The walls had been painted in pink underneath too.

"Check it out!" Mikey grinned as he picked up a bra.

"Mikey! That's highly inappropriate!" Don scolded. Mikey just shrugged and threw the bright yellow cloth behind him, then continued to scavenge around the room.

"Mikey come on! This isn't funny!" Leo snapped.

"Come on guys! This is the one chance we've got to actually get a girl that won't freak out on us! And if we check out the girl's rooms, then we can get inside their minds!"

The other three all looked at each other, wondering if they should or not.

"It's not right." Leo spoke firmly. He then turned around and walked back into the lounge room.

Don and Raph watched him leave. Raph shrugged and turned around, but instead of following Leo, he went into another room. Don watched him before making up his own mind. He opened up a door and heard light snoring. Closing the door gently, he realised it must have been Ava's room. Don then went down the corridor a little bit and opened another door.

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Raph entered a room with pale purple walls and looked around. Everything had been put into a certain special place, although a little clumsily. On one of the book cases in the room was a stack of magazines. He opened one up, flipped through the pages and looked inside.

"Ten Things To Change To Get A Boy To Notice You." Raph read, and nearly burst out laughing.

"What girls do to get a guy to like 'em!" He snickered.

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Don looked around the red room, picking up objects and putting them back down. There were some clothes on the floor, but nothing that would make him blush. He looked up on the shelves in the room and saw a photo of six people. He picked it up.

In the photo were a man and a woman, who looked happy. The woman had brown hair and blue eyes, while the man had blonde hair and green eyes. In front of them were four young girls. One, who looked to be the shortest (and maybe the youngest) had jumped up into a star shape during the photo. He blonde hair was up in two ponytails, and her blue eyes had some sort of spark in them.

The child to the left of her had her brown hair done in two piggy tails down both sides, and looked a little shocked and the blonde's actions. She had stepped back in fright to avoid the attack, and had nearly lost her balance.

The girl to the other side of the blonde, had her glasses slightly thrown off in the process. The girl had been trying to re-adjust them for the photo, but didn't have enough time to. Her brown hair was tied back into a long ponytail behind her head.

The last girl definitely seemed to be the happiest. Her long, brown, frizzy hair had been left down and laughter still looked fresh on her lips. A finger had being pointed at the ruckus her sisters had created.

Don smiled lightly at the photo, and then decided that the two adults in the photo must have been the girl's mum and dad. He sat the photo down and turned away from it to continue searching.

Then he heard the door open.

"The bathrooms down the end of the hallway." Ava spoke. Don froze.

"Uh..." he murmured. "Yeah! Thanks!"

Ava rose an eyebrow as he left the room and wandered down to the bathroom.

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Leo smirked as his brothers grumbled their way back to the lounge. Ava had caught the rest of the turtles in her sister's rooms and didn't trust any of them to be alone again. Except for Leo.

"You're in charge." She muttered as she left the room to go back to bed. The turtles (minus Leo) all sighed and got comfortable on the couches and chairs around the room. It wasn't long after until all three of Leo's younger brothers had fallen asleep.

Leo then took this opportunity to do a little snooping of his own, although for not as long as his brothers.

Entering the lilac covered room; he wandered around to a bed where he found a book covered in fancy, swirled writing. He opened the pages until he got to one with the latest date on it, he read until he found the information he needed. He smiled when he did. Leo then closed the book and left the room to join his brothers on the couch.

When he arrived, he noticed that Donatello was awake.

"Where have you been?" He asked. Leo shrugged.

"Bathroom."

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**I just realised, DOUBLE DIGITS! :D **

**This is going to sound cruel, but I love it how I'm confusing almost everyone with who I'm pairing the turtles with. It makes me feel powerful. **

**Mwahahahahahaha! *cough, hack, wheeze***

**:) Bye!**

**~ MR**


	13. Chapter 12 Gracie's Trustworthy

Zoe grumpily went up the stairs of the apartment place, rubbing her cheeks. She had been smiling and fake laughing all day, so her cheeks were stiff.

She went into the apartment, closed the door and entered the lounge room. Absentmindedly, she changed the TV channel and turned on her game station.

"Hey! I was watching that!"

Then she screamed.

"Will she ever get over that?" Don asked as he entered the room.

"I dunno, but I hope she does soon!" Raph grumbled.

Thudding was heard and a door opened. Ava ran into the room, suddenly on high alert.

"What's wrong, Zoe?" She asked. Zoe shrugged sheepishly.

"Just got a little fright I guess." She spoke. Ava sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I'm going back to bed." She decided and left the room.

"Night Ave!" Zoe smiled.

"I was still watchin that channel kid." Raph snapped.

"Oh!" Zoe gasped. "So sorry!"

She switched the channel back, stood up and stretched.

"I'll just head to my room then."

It wasn't long until Zoe had gone into the room and closed her door.

"Ooooookaaayyy!" She called out from behind the walls. "Who's been in my room?"

"Shell! How'd she know?" Mikey murmured.

"Well it could be that huge 'Guess Who?' sign you decided to hang up." Don suggested.

"And you did decide to draw a moustache on Chris Brown." Leo spoke up as he came out of the bathroom.

Zoe came out of her room, looking slightly miffed.

"Where is my yellow bra?" She demanded.

"Mikey you didn't!" Don gasped. Raph began to burst out laughing at this and Zoe hit Mikey upside the head.

"OW!" Mikey cried. "It wasn't me!"

"Where is it you jerk!" She snapped.

"I don't know!"

Zoe crossed her arms, huffed, and then went back into her room.

Raph had doubled over on the chair and was nearly kneeling on the floor.

"H-hey Mikey!" He said between laughs.

Mikey turned around and watched as Raph pulled something out from behind his shell. A bright, yellow something.

"Dude!" Mikey exclaimed.

The other turtles in the room cracked up laughing as Mikey's jaw hung, flabbergasted.

A door was heard closing and they all turned, becoming silent. Gracie looked at them and re-adjusted the glasses on her face. A blush crawled onto her face.

"W-what?" She asked as she walked in.

Four pairs of eyes watched her as she went.

"Is... is that Zoe's bra?" She asked, pointing to the cloth in Raph's hands.

The turtle's began laughing hard again as Gracie's blush darkened. She walked up to Raph, snatched the item of clothing off of him, and escaped back to the hallway. She knocked on Zoe's door as she did.

"What!" Zoe snapped as she opened the door. Gracie stood there, slightly surprised and Zoe sighed.

"Sorry Gracie. What is it?"

Gracie smiled and held up the yellow bra.

"AHA! I knew Mikey had it!" She cried as she held the cloth like it was some sort of victory prize.

"Mikey?" Gracie frowned. "If Mikey had it, why was Raph holding onto it?"

Zoe's head snapped up.

"R-Raph?" She stuttered. Gracie nodded.

A bright blush crawled up Zoe's cheeks. Within a few moments, Zoe's face was completely red.

"Ok thanks Gracie bye!" Zoe spoke all in one breath before slamming her door closed.

Gracie stood there stunned for a few moments before shaking herself and heading to her room.

She muttered something about 'Zoe never blushing from embarrassment' before closing the door behind her.

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Lara sighed as she walked in the door. Hearing the sounds of taunts and insults being flown at each other behind the lounge room door, she walked in.

"Come on Zoe, I thought you were good at games!" Mikey laughed.

"It's freaking Mario Kart, Mikey, not Gran Turismo!" Zoe snapped as she flicked buttons on her controller.

"Hey guys." Lara muttered as she looked around.

A chorus of 'Hi's and 'Hey Lara's came from around the room. Only Gracie's, Ava's, Leo's and Raph's heads turned to see her.

Lara shrugged to fight off a bit of disappointment as she sat down on the arm of the couch. She looked outside.

"It's pretty dark out now." She commented. All heads but one turned in the direction Lara was looking.

Mikey turned his head back to the screen.

"HEY!" He cried.

"If you wanted to win so badly, you shouldn't have looked out." Zoe smirked.

Mikey frowned before pressing a button. A red shell was flung out of his cart, and hit Zoe's.

"HEY!" She snapped.

"Those things are there to be used." Mickey smiled. He passed the finish line and a bird came onto his side of the screen, signalling that he had finished.

"I WON! HAHA! IN YOUR FACE!" He laughed.

Zoe's lip trembled. She frowned. Tears were entering her eyes and choked sobs began to make their way out of her throat.

"O-oh shell! Zoe don't c-cry! I'm sorry! I-it was only a game!" Mikey stuttered, unsure of what to do with a crying girl.

Zoe stood up and looked at the floor, her hair covering her face.

"Zoe, I'm sorry." Mikey spoke.

"GOTCHA!" Zoe yelled. Mikey sighed in relief and Zoe began to laugh.

Leo stood up from his spot and stretched.

"Well." He spoke. "It's time we get going."

His brothers all nodded, but sighed in disappointment.

"I hope we'll see each other again." Zoe smiled.

Ava nodded. "We should."

They all smiled. Mikey opened the door to the balcony and walked out. Seven other bodies followed him.

"Well." Leo spoke. "Goodbye for now then."

He bowed, then turned and jumped over the rail, out of sight.

"Catch ya later dudette!" Mikey grinned as he followed Leo.

"It was a pleasure to see you again." Don grinned as he left.

"See ya-"

"WAIT!" Zoe cried. Raph looked at her before there was a blur of blonde hair that had engulfed him in a hug.

"Uh..." Raph looked down t her.

Zoe had made herself comfortable as she snuggled into his plastron. She leant her head up to the side of his.

"If you wanted one of my bras" She whispered. "You could have just asked."

Raph swallowed and began to go red.

"S-see ya!" He called as he rushed off quickly and jumped over the railing, hoping that the cool breeze would calm him down.

Zoe giggled before the girls walked back inside.

"Zoe." Lara spoke. "What did you tell Raph?"

Zoe's face became pink.

"Nothing." She murmured. Lara smirked, but didn't say anything else. All of the girls went their separate ways, and into their rooms.

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Lara had been pacing around her room and biting her lip.

"Ok Lars. It's ok. It's normal. You're normal. You're fine. He could like you. He does like you. ... Does he?"

Lara stopped and looked at the ground.

"I've gotta tell someone." She murmured as she left her room.

Quickly deciding on who to see, she entered the lilac room. Gracie looked up in a slight panic and clamped shut the purple book she was writing in.

"Lara!" She smiled. "What's up?"

Lara bit her lip.

"Well... the thing is..."

Her voice cut off from the hallway as she closed the door behind her.

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**OOOooooOOOOOoooh... What's going on with Lara? Who does she like? Well, I know, but I'm not telling you! (yet. If I didn't, my story's screwed.)**

**And yeah, I'm mentioning bras. This is one of the reasons why it is T rated. Another reason is coming up later that makes me wonder if I should make the rating higher...**

**Woah, woah, woah, 'With great power comes great responsibility'? Crap people are going to start taking me seriously now. O.O**

**ANYWAY! I'm sure that I put in a few subtle hits in there. :) **

**Hope you guys enjoyed! (And can you imagine Raph blushing? Ever? XD) **

**Ok, BYE!  
**

**~MR**


	14. Chapter 13 Zoe's Jealous

**I'm sorry this took awhile! I had writer's block, and then the internet wouldn't work on the computer that has all of my stories on it. :/ Well, beggars can't be choosers. **

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Raph sat on his bed, thinking about the girl that has been plaguing his dreams. Her curling lips, her icy stare.

It was hard to get her out of his mind. Then, he came up with an idea to get closer to her.

Checking the time first, he went to the phone hanging up near the entrance to the lair. Then he remembered that he didn't know her number.

Raph slammed the phone down, and then began to head towards the dojo to let out some frustration.

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Something had possessed Donny. Normally with it being so late, he would be either out on patrol, or 'making improvements' on something. Tonight, he was doing neither.

Instead, he had going through a program to see if the hidden camera he had installed in the girl's apartment was working. He smiled at the video feed.

In the room was one of the girls, wrapped up in a blanket, in the dark, sipping out of a mug.

Don instantly knew who it was. The rims around her eyes had been lit up slightly, also shadowing her face. Her wavy hair was down instead of up, showing a softer side. A smile was on her lips.

Not even acknowledging the stalking feeling that crept into his stomach, Dun sat an elbow on the desk, and a hand on his cheek.

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Mikey sat on his bed, reading one of his comics.

He was comparing the woman in this comic, to his literal heroin.

"She's so awesome." He murmured to himself. "She has a great laugh, and sense of humour too."

Mikey smiled.

"She's just so cute!"

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Leo jumped from rooftop to rooftop, doing some nightly patrol. He turned his face a bit to his left, where the girl's apartment was. Then he smiled.

He remembered what it was like when he met her. Even though was she was strong, she still worried. About herself and her sisters. And then, later on, when he saw her bed hair for the first time. It was slightly knotted and her eyes looked wide and alert.

He let a small chuckle come out as the thought faded.

He shouldn't really think about that now. He had a city to look after.

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Splinter sat at on the couch, sipping his tea and watching one of his soaps. Although his eyes were glued to the screen, his mind was on his sons. They had been acting differently since they had arrived home earlier that day.

Mikey had hardly been paying attention when he was sparring or practising his ninja skills, which was really no surprise. What Splinter found interesting, is that he also hadn't been paying attention to his games. Almost every half-hour when Mikey was playing on the game station, there would be a cry of disappointment or disbelief.

Don seemed hardly all there either. In his practise or otherwise. There were so many things that had been broken by someone that lie in a pile in Don's lab, but he seemed more focused on his computer then anything.

Raph's hits seemed to only grave his punching bag, which then led to him accidently stumbling and hitting his head against it.

And Leo? Well, he seemed to go by as usual, but Splinter noticed little things that had changed. For example, Leo was meditating yesterday, _smiling_.

Splinter sipped his tea in his hand and tried to pay attention to his show.

A smile grew on his face.

Marlee had just found out that her boyfriend is actually her long lost brother.

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"Marlee... the reason why I don't want you to go out with Curtis is because... he's your brother."

"I KNEW IT!" Gracie cried as she jumped up, spilling her hot chocolate.

She looked down at the mess she had put herself in and tried to wipe the stain off with her hand. She wrapped her blanket around herself again, and then continued to watch the TV show.

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The next day, Raph asked if Don could find the girl's number. Surprisingly, he knew it off by heart.

Raph shook his head and went over to the phone. He pressed the girl's number until it started ringing.

"Hello, this is Zoe speaking." A cheery voice spoke.

"Ey Kid. It's Raph."

"Raph? How'd you get our number?" Zoe asked.

"Dons a computer geek. He can get anythin." Raph replied.

"Oh. Ok then. What's up?"

Raph bit his beak.

"Well... I was wondering if I could talk to Lara for a second."

"Lara? Yeah sure, I'll just get her."

Raph smirked.

"Hello?"

"Hey... Lara." Raph spoke, that spark of confidence deflating. "Don't suppose you want to go for a walk around New York t'night, eh?"

"Um..."Lara spoke, sounding hesitant. "I've got nothing else going on. Sure, why not?"

"Great! See you around seven?"

"Cool. See you then!"

"Yep. See ya!"

"Bye!"

Then Lara hung up. Raph sat the phone back on the hook and smirked.

"Smooth." He murmured as he walked to his room. "Smooth as a ninja."

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Lara stared at her hand, which still held the phone on the hook.

"Oh gosh... I hope he didn't..."

"So, what was that all about?" Zoe asked, leaning on the doorframe.

"Raph asked if... uh... I wanted to join the guys on patrol tonight. Seeing as I'm a good fighter and all." Lara lied.

"Oh." Replied Zoe. "Ok then."

She stood up, turned and walked into the lounge room.

Lara bit her lip. "Oh shell. I hope they don't care the way I think they are. Or else someone's going to be in a world of pain."

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**So... did I get anyone confused yet?**


	15. Chapter 14 Lara's Regretting

Lara stood on a rooftop, her arms crossed. Even wearing her leather jacket and good pair of jeans, she was still cold. She wondered why Raph had asked her to meet him on a rooftop so that they could hang on. Especially at this time of night.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and, out of reflex, she swung her arm around to defend herself. Raph managed to dodge it... just.

"Whoa! Watch it kid." Raph smirked. Lara growled at him.

"Do you have a problem with saying my name or something?" She snapped.

Raph shook his head.

"Then learn it! It's Lara! La-Ra!"

" 'k den, La-Ra. Ready to go?"

Lara frowned. "Go where?"

"Anywhere!" Raph smirked and extended his arms. Lara rose an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"The end of the rooftops is the limit."

"So you had asked me out tonight, with no planning at all?" Lara spoke and crossed her arms.

"Well... I did have one tin planned."

"And what is that?"

Raph took two steps closer to Lara and stretched out an arm. Lara didn't flinch or move, ready to defend herself if necessary.

As he touched her, the next word Raph spoke made Lara run.

"Tag."

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Raph smirked as Lara chased him over the rooftops. She had managed to tag him at least twice before she growled at him for letting her get him. Jumping onto the 56th rooftop in the game, Raph had noticed that Lara had begun slowing down. She had stopped on one roof behind him to catch her breath.

"Hey." Raph called out behind him. "You given up kid?"

"I am not a KID!" Lara shouted in between breaths. She began to run again and jumped onto the next roof. Hearing the tin echo from underneath her feet, she looked around. A terrible feeling crawled up into her stomach.

"What is it kid?" Raph asked, noticing she wasn't moving.

"This... is where it happened." Lara murmured as she stared around her.

Raph frowned. "What?"

"This area. The warehouses." Lara looked around, seemingly looking for one specific thing. "There!"

Her finger shot up in the air and Raph followed it. In the place she was pointing to was what looked like an area that had been caught on fire. There were one or two beams that were black and standing up, while another was lying on the ground. The cement that helped them stand was also black, and bits of tin that were lying around looked burnt and charred. Sitting at the front of the burnt area was an old police cruiser.

Lara wiped away the tears that entered her eyes and found a pole to slide down from. Reaching the ground she stared at the old car before running to it. Raph jumped off the roof and followed her.

Upon reaching the car, Lara could see that the front and the door's windows were smashed in. On the front of the vehicle were a couple of burnt patches. The car was left unlocked and any of the compartments that had items in it were opened. At first she wondered why the car hadn't been stolen over the past three years, but then she shook her head. What thug would want to steal a police car?

Lara opened the door and searched through any papers and other items that had been carelessly thrown around the car.

"Where is it, where is it?" She wondered out loud. Raph watched her with curiosity as she scavenged through the papers, compartments and under the seats. Finally, she gave out an 'Ah ha!' and pulled out an item from under the seats. She smiled as she pulled out a wallet and opened it. Ignoring the bank cards and money, she gently touched the photo in the wallet. She stared at the family staring back at her.

"This photo is like the one in my room." She spoke before showing it to Raph. Raph looked at the group of smiling people, and guessed it was Lara's family. Lara then closed the wallet and put it in her pocket.

"Dad would be fine with me having it. Well, now at least." Lara looked at the ground.

"Lara, there was nothing you could do."

"If it wasn't for me they wouldn't have even been caught in that fire!" Lara snapped.

Raph frowned. "Did ya start the fire?"

Lara looked up at him. "What?"

"Did you start that fire?"

"No..."

"Then it wasn't your fault. Shell anything could've happened to make-"

"HEY!"

Lara grabbed Raph's hand and pulled him into the police cruiser behind her. She jump in straight after and closed the door. She raised a finger in front of her mouth to signal Raph to be quiet, and he nodded in response.

"Dude what is it?" A voice spoke from outside the door.

"I dunno man. I thought I saw somthin."

Lara waited silently for the voices to pass, hoping that the thugs wouldn't look into the car. Eventually, the sound of footsteps walking away was heard, and Lara sighed in relief.

"You ok?" Raph asked next to her. She nodded before opening the car door and stepping out.

"Let's go." She murmured. She grabbed Raph's hand as she pulled him along in the dark, not noticing the growing blush on Raph's cheeks.

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**I know! I am so sorry this took too long! I had writers block. -_-' . Anyway, I'm getting somewhat close to the bit that I wrote AGES ago! Hopefully, it'll be very soon. And you'll like it. I like it. ... =) **

**Is it odd that something so invisible can be one of the biggest things around? And the cat that ate chocolate was a ginger one. :) **


	16. Chapter 15 Ava's a jerk actually

Ava stared around the room, slightly confused. Lara was watching TV, or at least, seemed to be. Ava could see that Lara's eyes seemed to be slightly fogged over, as if she was thinking rather deeply about something. After he had arrived back home with Raph, she had been rather quiet.

Zoe had also noticed this, and seemed to glare at Lara occasionally as she read one of her comics.

Gracie was sitting on the bean bag, staring at the ceiling. She let out a sigh every once in a while, which began to get on Ava's nerves.

The phone began to ring next to Ava, and she reached over to grab it as she still watched her sisters.

"Hello?" She spoke. The voice on the other side began to talk excitedly to her and she smiled.

"Why, hello Mikey." Ava spoke loudly. All heads turned to her as soon as she did.

"I think we would. Just give me a second to ask." Ava put the phone down a bit. "Would you guys like to go to see the turtles again?" The girls all smiled, stood up and ran down the hallway. Ava frowned.

"What are you guys doing?" She yelled.

"Getting changed!" They all replied in union. Ava smiled.

"I think that we'd all enjoy coming over. See you soon!" Ava replied and hung up the phone. She then went down the hallway and into her own room.

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It wasn't long until the girls had made it down into one of the sewer lines.

"Uh..." Zoe spoke, her voice carrying in the dark. "Does anyone actually know where we are going?"

The girls were at a loss for words. They all looked at each other's faces worriedly before realising that they had no idea.

"I do." A voice spoke.

They all jumped before realising who it is. Zoe grinned first before running and jumping onto the figure.

"MIKEY!" The girl cried. Mikey laughed as he held the girl then put her down.

"What's happening dudette?" Mikey asked Zoe as he ruffled up her hair. Zoe scowled and tried her best to fix it up.

"You're the one that asked us to come. You should know." She snapped.

Mikey smiled and shrugged before leading the girls away from the sewer hole. They stopped at a certain point, and Mikey turned around to face them.

"No peeking!" He grinned. The girls all covered their eyes, but Zoe let her hands spread to sneak a look. She watched as the outline of Mikey's arm leant up and pulled down a pipe line.

Suddenly, a hole in the wall opened. The girls blinked rapidly to get used to the new blinding light. When their eyes had adjusted, they walked inside.

"Now, you have to be really quiet. None of the others know that I invited-"

"RAT!" Zoe screamed.

Mikey stiffened and the other girls looked to where Zoe was facing.

Behind Mikey was a giant, grey-haired rat. Mikey turned to face him and grinned sheepishly at him.

"Hehe. Uh... What's up sensei?" Mikey spoke.

Zoe's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted.

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Zoe opened her eyes and blinked. Around her sight were her sisters, all staring at her.

"Oh my gosh you guys." Zoe murmured. "You won't believe this."

She sat herself upright as she continued.

"I had the weirdest dream, that we went into the sewer an there was this giant-"

Zoe stared forward, and there was the rat, staring straight back at her.

"Rat?" She squeeked.

"Zoe, this is Master Splinter. He's the father of the turtles." Ava spoke.

"Oh." Zoe gulped. "That's cool."

"Does anyone mind tellin me what the shell is goin on!" Raph yelled out grumpily.

He walked out of a hallway, followed closely by Leo and Don.

"Hey guys!" Zoe giggled and pointed at Master Splinter. "You were right. He really is a rat."

The three turtles all froze.

"Boys." Splinter spoke. "Follow me."

The girls all watched as the turtle followed their father into a room and out of earshot.

"You don't think they're in trouble are they?" Asked Gracie.

"Oh definitely." Lara mused. "Something tells me that we weren't actually asked if we could come over today."

"What do you... oh." Zoe said. "Now what?"

Ava shrugged. "I'm going to make some tea."

The other girls watched her as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Oh sure! Make yourself at home, why don't ya!" Lara shouted out behind her.

"Gracie, they have your favourite blend of coffee!" Ava yelled from the kitchen. Gracie let out a squeal of excitement as she followed Ava into the kitchen.

"Hey! I wonder if they have hot chocolate!" Zoe smiled and jumped over the couch, following Gracie.

Lara sighed. "They had better at least have a damned energy drink."

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Ava had finished sipping her lemon tea when the turtles and Master Splinter walked into the kitchen. She smiled at them gently and tilted her head to the kettle.

"Tea?" She offered. Splinter smiled and nodded, but the rest shook their heads.

"The others are out exploring." Ava continued.

"Exploring what?" Don asked.

"Well, considering you all went through their rooms, I had told them that they had better return the favour."

The turtles eye's all widened and Splinter gave them a stern look.

"You didn't." Mikey gasped. Ava was about to reply with 'I did', when a sudden crash was heard.

All bodies moved quickly to where it seemed to be placed, and they all ran into Don's lab.

Zoe looked up from the mess she had made, a look of shock and fear mixed on her face.

"I, I, I didn't, I mean, I lost my ring and..." she stopped babbling. "I am so sorry."

Don stared down at the crash and sighed.

"What was it?" Zoe asked.

"That was a prototype for a new improvement on my computers." Don replied.

An idea suddenly popped in Ava's mind and she smiled.

"Well Gracie knows a bit about computers. Maybe she can help you with that?" She spoke.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure if I should try to fix it today. We've got so almost double the amount of people here that we normally have." Don cried before muttering "Well, some of us are mutants."

"It'd give you guys a better chance to know each other." Ava smiled. Gracie looked at Ava curiously.

Don looked up at her, noticed her cheeky eyes. He gulped at the suspicion that she knew something, anything, about his little crush.

"Yeah." He spoke."Why not?"

Ava smiled in success and they all scattered away from the doorway.

"I am really, really sorry Don." Zoe murmured to him.

"Hey, no problem. An accidents an accident, right?" Don replied. Zoe smiled at him and then ran off to follow Mikey.

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Gracie had began to make herself another drink in the kitchen. She had just gotten one of the glasses out of the cupboard when Leo walked into the room.

"Hey." He spoke. Gracie dropped the glass out of surprise and it shattered into pieces once it hit the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" She cried. "I am so sorry!"

She got down on all falls to pick the pieces up and Leo came down with her.

"Don't worry about it." Leo replied. "I startled you. It's my fault."

Their hands brushed together constantly during the clean up, and Gracie blushed harder each time they did.

When they were done, they both stood up and brushed the glass off their hands and into a bin.

"Oops." Gracie giggled. "I think we missed one."

She bent down again and began to pick up the last piece when it cut her.

"Ouch!" She cried. She looked down at the long cut that had begun to bleed on her finger as Leo put the last shard in the bin.

"Let me see." He spoke. Gracie gave him her hand and he stared at the cut.

"Hmm." He hummed. "Follow me."

He grabbed her other hand and lead her through the rooms. Gracie's blush had intensified as she felt the turtle's rough, calloused hand. She gulped lightly, but Leo had heard her. He smiled gently as they reached Don's lab, where there was a first aid kit.

He let go of her hand and picked up the box. Opening it up, he selected a long bandaid to go on her finger. Sitting it down, he brought her to a sink in the back to wash her hand. She flinched slightly at the pain it brought, but Leo hushed her and calmed her down.

When he led her back, she wanted to comment on how the cut didn't seem too bad, but she couldn't bear to break his concentration. He looked completely focused as he sat the bandaid on her finger, making sure it was in just the right spot. When he was done, he looked up at her and smiled.

"There." He commented. "Better?"

She nodded, unable to make words.

"Gracie." He spoke. Her breath hitched. He held one of her hands and brushed her arm gently with his other one. Gracie's heart began to beat faster. "Gracie... I-"

"Leo?" A voice called. Leo sighed, slightly annoyed.

"That's Ava." Gracie muttered.

"I know." Leo replied. He let go of her hand and shrugged. "I suppose I'd better see what she wants, huh?"

"Leo?"

Gracie nodded. "She is waiting."

Leo nodded as well, and left the room. Gracie watched him as he went out. When he was out of sight, she sighed.

"Too good to be true." She murmured.

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Lara had made her way into the garage, following Raph in. She looked at the red bike in front of them and smiled.

"Nice." She commented.

"Thanks." Raph smirked. He wrapped an arm around Lara and she froze. Her mind panicked slightly and she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"So!" She spoke a little too quickly. "Let's take this thing out for a spin, eh?"

She quickly walked over to the bike and rubbed the leather seat.

"What's the rush kid?" Raph asked. "No hurry."

Lara swore that a vein had popped out of her forehead.

"Kid? KID! For the love of The Rock, would you stop calling me kid!" Lara growled.

"What's the issue... Kid?" Raph smirked. Lara growled and stormed out of the room. She stalked out and down the hallway. Don came out of his room, and watched her curiously.

"What's the matter Lara?" He asked.

"I-He-Just- GAH! Would you please control your brother! He's pissing the shell out of me with this whole 'kid' thing!" Lara snarled.

Don reached up and touched Lara's arm gently. She seemed to cool down fast at the touch.

"Sticks and stones Lara. Names will never hurt you." Don smiled and walked off. Lara noticed his bo staff hanging on his back as he walked to the dojo.

"Yeah," she murmured. "More like sticks and shells."

"Sticks and shells?" Gracie asked from behind her.

Lara turned around and sighed. "Sticks and shells will break my heart, because he will never love me."

Gracie gave Lara a sorry look and grabbed her hand.

"Come on." She murmured. "Let's head to the dojo."

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When Lara and Gracie entered the dojo, Don was there leaning against a wall. Leo and Ava were in the centre of the training area. He was teaching her how to fight.

"Yes, like that." Leo spoke as Ava hit his training katana. "You're doing extremely well."

Lara leant over to Don. "Does he know that Ava's already had this kind of training before?"

Don shrugged and continued to watch.

Ava swiped her training katana at Leo's legs unexpectedly, and Leo fell to the ground. Ava smiled as sat a foot on Leo's plastron.

"Give up?" She asked. The turtle rolled out from underneath her, but Ava lost her balance. She landed on top of him, but because the turtle was spinning, she ended up underneath.

Lara furrowed her eyebrows. "She planned that."

Ava smiled as Leo's breath hit her face.

"Well." She flirted. "This is an interesting predicament."

Gracie's heart dropped at the position the turtle and her sister were in.

"Definitely too good to be true." She murmured and left the room.

Don watched her as she walked out.

"What did she mean?" He asked. Lara's eyes flicked from the two, still on the floor, to her retreating sister.

"Haven't the faintest idea." She lied.

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Zoe and Mikey giggled. They had planted a net, filled with balloons above the dojo door, ready for the first victim to walk out of the room.

"Quick, quick!" Zoe murmured and gave Mikey the rope. "I think someone's coming!"

Mikey snickered as he waited. The door slid open and Mikey took a sneak peak to see who it was. There he saw Ava and Leo walk out in the middle of a conversation.

"So do you think that I could join your patrols every once in a while?" Ava asked as they began to walk out.

"I don't know." Leo murmured. He turned to close the door behind him.

"Now Mikey! Come on!" Zoe whispered.

Ava smiled and brushed her hand closed to Leo's. She wrapped a few fingers in between his, and Leo coughed uncomfortably. Ava didn't notice and continued to walk with him.

"Mikey, what are you doing!" Zoe whisper cried. She stared at him, then at where he was looking.

Mikey watched them with slight hurt in his eyes. The fun of the day was gone. He relaxed his arms to his side, and watched as the couple walked past. Unbeknownst to him, he let go of the rope. The door of the dojo sounded to have just been closed again, when a cry was heard. All four heads turned to witness a wet Gracie with popped balloons resting on her shoulders.

Rather than laughing, Zoe gasped. "Oh shell." She murmured.

"Are you ok Gracie?"Leo asked. He let go of Ava's hand and walked towards her.

Ava stared at Gracie curiously.

"It's high school all over again." Gracie cried out and ran out of the turtle's home.

Ava and Leo watched her go, then noticed Mikey and Zoe.

"I'll just... go see if she's ok." Zoe suggested and ran after her sister. Mikey sighed and walked to his room, rubbing his head as he went.

There was a silence for awhile.

"Will she be ok?" Leo asked.

"High school was a bit of a traumatic experience for her. For all of us really." Ava replied. "I suppose that's what happens though. You've just got to learn how to cope."

She bit her lip and held Leo's hand again, giving it a tight squeeze.

"So," She spoke. "Shall we continue?"

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**If I didn't put enough hints in this, I don't know what I'll do. I think I made Ava sound like a total biatch in this one. I wanted to hit her for interrupting Leo an Gracie's 'private time'... lol.**

**So, 2,734 words (that's 8 pages). Oh yeah, I worked hard on this one. I was planning to leave it after the girls had something to drink, but idea's just flowed at me. :)**

**69 comments! WHOOO! I love you guys! (lol 69... dirty mind, dirty mind! *mental slap*)**

**Hope you guys liked it! Next one will be great, because it's the last one I have to write before I can put up the other stuff I worked on. YAY! :) **

**Ok, BYE!**

**~MR**


	17. Chapter 16 Don's Heartbroken

The next day, Gracie woke up in the apartment alone. After Zoe had come to check if she was ok, Gracie had gone home and Zoe went back to the lair. She looked around curiously. It was everyone's day off today, so being at home by herself worried her. The phone rang and she jumped.

"H-Hello?" She stuttered.

"Morning Gracie!" Zoe spoke on the other side.

"Where are you guys?" Gracie asked.

"We stayed at the guy's place. It was the best! We ate soooo many pizzas!" Zoe giggled.

"Oh." Gracie muttered, feeling slightly rejected.

"So anyway, you coming over?" Zoe spoke.

Gracie bit her lip. "I don't know..."

"Oh come on Gracie! It'd be fun!" Zoe begged.

Gracie sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'm coming."

"Yay! BYE!" Zoe smiled and hung up the phone. Gracie shook her head. Zoe never waits for the other person to say goodbye.

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It wasn't long until Gracie was ready to leave. What she didn't expect was a turtle to come and take her to the lair. She jumped in surprise as there was a knock from the balcony. She hesitantly opened the door, then recognised the blue jacket.

"Leo?" She questioned.

"Don actually." Don smiled. Gracie smiled back.

"Blue isn't your colour." She giggled.

"Yeah, but it was the best I could do on such short notice." Don replied. She let him in the apartment before locking the balcony door behind him.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

Gracie nodded. "Yep."

She lead him through the room and to the front door. Letting him out before locking it, and they both continued their way out of the building. Gracie watched as Don opened the sewer hole.

"Ladies first." He spoke. She smiled at him before going down, Don following soon after. Eventually, they made their way to the lair in a comfortable silence, and Gracie closed her eyes as he opened the entry.

When she entered, she saw pizza boxes, cans and popcorn where the lounge was. Another wave of loneliness crossed Gracie as she thought about the great time the others had the night before.

"So," Don spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

"Where's everyone else?" Gracie asked, noticing the silence. Don shrugged.

"I think they're searching through the sewer or something." He replied. Gracie nodded and followed Don to his lab, where a broken computer lay in there waiting. Don picked it up and opened up the back.

"Need some help?" Gracie asked.

"Sure." Don smiled. Gracie watched as Don fiddled with wires for a while.

"No, no, no." She interrupted. "Like this."

She leant over Don to reach some on the wires, and moved them to the right spot. She smiled at her work. Once the computer was done, they turned it on.

"Thanks Gracie." Don smiled.

"No problem. Computers are easy. Its people I have trouble with." She grinned.

"I know!" Don agreed. "Each has a different personality and reaction! It's so great to finally find someone who understands that."

Gracie laughed with him.

"Gracie." Don murmured. He brought his hands up to hers and rubbed them gently.

"What is it Don?" Gracie asked, not really paying attention to the contact.

Don looked up at her and moved himself steadily forward. His arms wound around Gracie's back as he did.

"D-Don, what are you-?" Gracie gulped as she realised what he was doing. "Don no. Stop that."

Gracie struggled in Don's grip and pushed on his plastron. When Don realised, he let go. Gracie fell back onto the cupboard behind her. An object that was sitting on top of it fell and hit her on the face, landing her with a nice bruised forehead.

"OW!" Gracie cried.

"S-sorry Gracie!" Don stuttered.

Gracie, now angry from the injury, left the room.

"Gracie, please." Don called as he ran out after her.

"What the shell, Don!" Gracie cried as she rubbed her head. "I said no!"

"Look, I didn't mean to, it was an accident."

"Did you listen to me at all? I'm not interested in you like that!" Gracie yelled. At this point, the door opened. Unbeknownst to the other two fighting, the rest of the group came in.

"I'm sorry, Gracie!" Don pleaded. "Can we start over?"

"Just forget it Don!" Gracie snapped, and stormed off into the bathroom.

"What happened?" Mikey asked. Don turned to where his brothers and the girls were standing, before running off into his lab.

"Don!" Lara called out after him. Ava and Zoe shrugged and walked off to follow Gracie. The other guys stood their confused, but decided not to look into it too much. Whatever it was, the girls would most likely be able to handle it.

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Don hadn't noticed that someone had followed him into his area of solitude, even though just minutes before he had been utterly humiliated in it.

"Don?" Lara called out into the dark room. She could see the outline of his figure reflecting against the light of one of his computers. She walked up behind him and rubbed his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" She asked. She had never seen Don so down.

"It's nothing." He replied.

Lara scoffed.

"Having a pea thrown at you is nothing. Gracie just spoke cruelly to you, and you walked off upset. That is NOT nothing. Now tell me, what is wrong?" She urged.

Don paused, staring intensely at his fingers.

"Well... It's just that..." He began. She moved my face closed to him to press him on.

"She just said such mean things, and..." He wouldn't finish. Lara's eyes grew wide as a sudden realisation came over me.

"You... You like her, don't you? Like... crush like." She guessed.

He didn't reply. But then again, he didn't have to.

'The signs, the smiles.' She thought. ' Why didn't I pay attention?'

Her hands left his shoulders and she slowly stepped back. He turned to her.

"Lars?" He asked. She turned and walked out the door, not looking back at him.

Lara ran to the apartments, into her room and locked the door. Tears were streaming down her face and there was an ache in her chest. Both were signs of a broken heart.

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"What on EARTH were you guys thinking?" Gracie cried. After she had told them about Don coming onto her, they admitted to planning it all along.

"I thought it was obvious." Zoe giggled

"Yeah. Come on Gracie, we know you like him." Ava smirked.

"WHAT!" shouted Gracie.

Zoe laughed a little harder.

"He likes you too you know!" She said between laughs.

"This isn't funny Zoe. Not at all." Gracie snapped.

Both of her sister's smiles fell.

"What's the matter?" Ava asked concerned.

"I don't like Donatello!" Gracie confessed.

The other two stared at her with wide eyes.

"Y-you don't?" Zoe stuttered.

"But we were so sure!" Ava cried.

"Well obviously, you were wrong. And now, Lara has to pay for it!" Gracie growled.

"What? What's wrong with Lara?" Ava asked.

"She likes Donatello!" Gracie sighed. "I thought she would have told you both by now."

"Oh my gosh." Zoe murmured.

Gracie shook her head.

"I'm going to home. The next time one of you two get one of these bright ideas, let me know beforehand please." She spoke, turned and left the two behind her.

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Gracie was lying in her room, listening to one of her Taylor Swift albums when a knock came from her door.

She got up quickly, paused it on one of her favourite songs and answered the door.

"Hey." She spoke quietly and gave Lara a small sympathetic smile. Gravcie moved out of the way so Lara could get in, and closed the door.

Lara sat on Gracie's bed and stared at the floor. Gracie sat down next to her.

She stared at Lara, waiting for something.

They were both silent for awhile when Lara spoke.

"He likes you." She murmured.

"Who? Don?"

"Maybe you should go out with him." Lara suggested.

"What? And hurt your feelings? No! I could never do that!"

"Raph has been giving me hints anyway. Maybe I should be with him. He and I are better suited for each other anyway."

Gracie grabbed Lara's shoulders and pulled her so they were facing each other.

"Don't say that." Gracie spoke.

"Why not?"

"You and Raph are too much alike to be able to handle each other. You would fight a lot, and neither of you would give up until the other is defeated. You may even resort to violence."

"So?"

"Don't think of it as high school. Think of it as more of... real life. In high school, nerds are attracted to nerds. Jocks are attracted to cheerleaders. Bullies and bullies, prefects and prefects, ect. Where as in real life, the couple normally have different jobs. Only occasional couple have the same. You and Raph would normally have something like... I don't know. Wrestling trainers or something. Now if you both had the same job, all you would talk about is wrestling. You would hardly get to know each other more because you always know what the other is doing. Whereas Don, he would probably be a scientist, so he wouldn't always talk as a scientist around you, because you wouldn't understand. Therefore, he would communicate and talk to you about other things." Gracie concluded.

Lara furrowed her eyebrows.

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, opposites attract."

Lara and Gracie stared at each other for a while before a small smile grew on Lara's face.

"Thanks Gracie." She spoke. Gracie smiled with her.

"No problem. I just wish that you told Ava and Zoe when you told me." Gracie confessed.

"Why?"

"They came up with a plan to try and get me and Don together. I didn't want to hurt Don's feelings, but I see him more as a brother then a boyfriend. Just the thought of it makes me feel sick." Gracie shuddered.

They both sat in a comfortable silence when a smirk grew on Lara's face.

"So Gracie, if opposites attract... who's your opposite?" She asked. A blush grew on Gracie's face.

"N-no one." She stuttered.

"Oh really?" Lara questioned. She brought out a book from behind her back. The front cover had in big, curly writing the word 'Diary' and Gracie's name on it.

"Lara give that back." Gracie begged.

"I don't think this will say that you like 'No one'!" She cried.

Gracie got up to tackle Lara, but she moved quickly and Gracie ended up on the floor. She quickly got up and chased Lara around the room. Lara was giggling the whole time.

"Come on Gracie. Who is it? Is it Raph? After all, Don is my opposite! It only works!" Lara laughed.

"Lara, come on! Give that back!" Gracie cried after her. She managed to grab the book, but Lara wouldn't let go.

They both pulled at the book when Lara's fingers slipped and she fell back. She hit the edge of a table that had a stack of CDs piled on top of it. Lara hit the ground with a thud, and the CDs all fell on top of her.

"Lara!" Gracie gasped.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! You're the one that pulled the book from me!" Lara snapped.

Gracie shook her head.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

Lara nodded and looked around at all of the CDs.

"You really listen to this classical junk? " She asked as she picked up a CD and put it on the table.

"There's nothing wrong with it! At least it's real music unlike that techno stuff that Zoe seems obsessed about. That stuff gives me headaches."

Lara nodded and helped Gracie pick up the CDs when one caught her eye. She bent down and picked it up. A smirk came onto her lips as she read the title.

"Taylor Swift huh? Last I checked, that's pop or country. Not classic." Lara spoke

Gracie blushed.

"Well... she's a really great singer. I like her songs." Gracie confirmed.

"Yeah. Interesting title too." Lara emphasized. "Fearless."

Gracie blushed harder and nodded.

"Yep."

Lara read the songs on that back and opened the case. She frowned as she found it empty. Looking around, she noticed the stereo in the back corner.

Seeing it was on pause, she smirked as she hit the play button.

'_-my hand and drag me head first. Fearless.'_

The stereo sang and Lara howled with laughter.

Gracie's face was as red as a tomato and ran to the stereo to turn it off.

"D-do you mind!" She growled.

"What's the matter Gracie?" Lara laughed. "I thought opposites attract."

Gracie frowned and tried to stop a tear from escaping.

"It's not funny Lara." Gracie murmured. "Not even a little."

Lara quietened down and smiled. She then noticed Gracie trying to stop tears from falling.

"Hey. Gracie. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Gracie sniffed.

"Right. People cry over nothing." Lara scoffed. "Come on Gracie. What's wrong?"

Gracie moved and sat down on her bed, Lara following suit.

"Well?" Lara urged.

"I like... Leo." Gracie murmured.

"I figured that one out." Lara spoke. "But what's wrong with that?"

"Ava does too." Gracie spoke and shut her eyes to stop the tears.

Lara's eyebrows furrowed.

"What about that whole speech about how opposites attract?" she asked.

"Apparently that doesn't apply to Ava. I think Leo likes her too." Gracie sighed.

Lara was quiet. She wanted to try and convince Gracie that it wasn't possible, that there was no way that Leo would like Ava, but that meant that she believed that Ava wasn't good enough for Leo. Or was it the other way around? Even if it was, then that meant that Gracie had a low score compared to Ava.

'_This is so confusing.' _Lara thought.

"Which means that there's only Raph and Mickey to choose from. Raph seems to violent for me to handle, so he's out. And Mickey's just too active. Sure, I like his happy-go-lucky attitude, but if I have some sort of experiment to do, he might accidently ruin it." Gracie spoke.

"What?" Lara questioned. "Who said that we all had to be boyfriend and girlfriend with all of them?"

Gracie blinked and looked up at Lara.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who said that all of us had to go out with all of them or something? There are plenty of fish in the sea! There are other guys in New York!" Lara smiled.

"Yeah, but how many of them would actually talk to me? I'm invisible, remember?"

At this, Lara faltered. In a way, Gracie spoke the truth. Yes, she was incredibly pretty, but the poor girl hadn't even had her first kiss yet, much less had a boyfriend.

Lara shook her head.

"We'll figure out something." She spoke. Gracie nodded.

They sat in silence again when Lara yawned.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Gracie glanced at the clock her wall.

"Eleven thirty p.m." She replied.

"Well that explains why I'm tired." Lara murmured and rubbed her eyes. "I'm hitting the sack."

"Alright then." Gracie said. "Goodnight."

"Night Gracie."

Lara left the room, closing the door behind her. Gracie looked around at the darkness, stood up and pressed play on the stereo.

'_And I don't know why but with you I'd dance_

_In a storm in my best dress, Fearless.'_

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**Ok, so the end of this I made AGES ago. It was my original starting point. :) The bit was when Lara followed Don into his lab was when I started. So, bit of smooth sailing from here, and you also get a some long bits. :) Hope you enjoyed! **

**BYE!**

**~ MR**


	18. Chapter 17 Mikey's Blushing

Zoe sat down on the couch in the lair with her head resting on her hand, thinking. In front of her were Gracie and Lara, both deep in a conversation. Of to the side was Donatello, trying to fix the game station that Mikey and Zoe had been playing earlier when the TV screen suddenly turned blank.

"Lara likes Don." She murmured quietly. "But Don likes Gracie."

She leaned back on the couch.

"Interesting love triangle."

"What is?" A voice came from next to her. She looked up to see the curious face of Mikey.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Zoe stuttered.

Mikey looked at her with a smirk on his face.

"Zoe?" He questioned. Zoe tried to ignore the uncomfortable situation she felt herself being pulled in.

"Yes?" She asked. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Mikey begin to raise his hands.

"You know I can make you talk." He snickered. Zoe's eyes went as wide as saucers.

"You wouldn't."

"I would." Mikey confirmed.

"No." Zoe spoke as she began to crawl backwards on the couch. "No, no, no."

"Yes." Mikey laughed. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He battle cried as he jumped on top of her and began to tickle her senseless.

"No! Stop!" Zoe begged. "I can't take it! Enough!"

"Never!" Mikey laughed as he wriggled his fingers on her sensitive sides.

"Get off! Ok! I'll tell you! Please! Just stop!" Zoe cackled as she began to lose her breathe.

Mikey let her go and Zoe let out the last few giggles from her attack. She wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly caught her breath.

"Ok." She murmured. "I'll tell you what I was thinking about. But you promise not to tell anyone. Right?"

Mikey nodded. Zoe held out her pinky finger.

"Swear on your life?" She asked again.

Mikey stuck one of his end fingers out from the gesture and rose what would have an area for an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that it's gonna work?" He smiled.

Zoe stared at the finger for a few seconds and compared it to her tiny pinky.

"Well..." She thought out loud. She shrugged and instead grabbed the finger with her hand.

"This'll work." She decided and Mikey chuckled.

Zoe gave a brief look around the room and made a motion for Mikey to move his head closer to hear her.

"Well." She whispered. "You know how a couple of days ago when we came back from our day-trip that we heard Gracie shouting at Don, right?"

Mikey nodded his head.

"The reason why we left Gracie and Don there, was because Ava and I found out that Don likes Gracie. Like, crush like. Get it? Well anyway, when Don ran out of the room with Lara running after him, Gracie dragged Ave and I off to the corridor to have, like, a serious talk to us. Turns out, she only thinks Don as a friend. She doesn't like him at all! As a crush I mean." Zoe continued "Then, she says something about how Lara's gonna be all upset, and Ava and I are like 'What? Why?'. Turns out that Lara likes Donatello. Like, crush like. Ya know? So the entire situation has turned out to be like some whacky love triangle. Kinda like those soaps that Splinter likes to watch, but in reality."

Mikey was silent.

"Huh?"

Zoe sighed.

"Lara love Don. Don don't love Lara, Don love Gracie. Gracie don't love Don. Get it?" Zoe murmured.

Mikey stared at her for a few minutes.

"Oh." He murmured. "OH! Oh, now I got ya."

He smiled lightly.

"But wait." He spoke. "Who does Gracie like?"

"I don't know." Zoe shrugged and looked back at the three in front of the couch.

There was a silence for awhile as both of them watched the love triangle people, when something dawned on Mikey.

"Hey... um... Zoe?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Zoe turned her head.

"You don't... you know... like me, do you?" Mikey asked.

Zoe stared blankly at him.

'_Oh crap.' _She thought. _'What do I tell him? I don't like him, but what if he likes me? Oh crap. What if he asks me out. Ew! That'd be like going out with my brother! Oh crap. I don't want to hurt him. Oh shell. Oh Christ. Dear God, what do I do!'_

"Zoe?" Mikey murmured after her pause.

"Um..."

There was another silence for awhile as they stared at each other.

"Why?" She murmured. "Do you like me?"

Mikey's eyes grew wide.

"Um..."

They both bit their lips.

"Ok. Here's a way to settle this." Zoe murmured. "On three, we say 'Yes' or 'No'. Got it?"

"Got it." Mikey confirmed

"Ok. 1." Zoe whispered.

"2." Mikey followed.

"3."

"NO!"

They both looked at each other.

"No?" Zoe asked.

"No?" Mikey repeated.

A wave of relief came over both of their faces.

"Oh thank the Lord!" Zoe cried.

"I know! I felt so much pressure in that!" Mikey laughed.

"I don't know which would be worse! The awkwardness of that, or a math exam!" Zoe smiled.

Zoe and Mikey both looked at each other.

"Math exam." Mikey answered.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too. I flunk at math."

"Learning Math from Master Splinter was hard enough. I don't need to have a sheet of paper asking me questions that I have to get right in a certain amount of time." Mikey shuddered.

The two then smiled at each other and chuckled. There was another moment of silence and the two of them looked at the three in front.

"So." Zoe began. "Who do you like?"

Mikey began to feel a light blush cover his face.

"No one." He murmured.

"Oh." Zoe replied. She could tell he was lying. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. I mean. Who would want to be with someone like me?"

Zoe frowned at this.

"If that's what you believe." She murmured.

Mikey smiled, and Zoe caught it.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh nothing. It's just that... ya know... You sounded a bit like Ava." Mikey murmured, the blush becoming a little bit darker.

Zoe smirked.

"Ava huh?" She asked. "You like Ava!"

"What! No! Of course not." Mikey denied.

"Oh yeah. Sure." Zoe spoke, playing it off like she dropped the subject.

She turned her head.

"Oh, hey Ava." She spoke.

Mikey's head whipped around and Zoe smirked.

"HA! Deny it now Turtle!" She cried. Mikey's blush darkened even more.

"So what? It's not like she's going to look at me like that anyway."

Zoe frowned. "You don't know that."

"Oh please. It's like... she's Cat Woman. Or Wonder Woman. She could save the day by herself. She's so incredible. And me? I can hardly do anything without my brothers." Mikey sighed.

"I'm sure she would give you a chance if you just asked her." Zoe replied.

Mikey gave her a sideways glance.

"You sure?" He asked.

Zoe nodded.

"Positive." She smiled. Mikey's grin followed.

They were both silent for awhile.

"So do you like anyone?"Mikey asked.

"Oh. No one." Zoe bit her lip.

"Yeah. Right." Mikey smirked. "Your bitten lip totally confirms that."

"Well, I don't need to tell you." Zoe replied. "After all, they'll find out my feelings soon enough. I have a plan."

Mikey became confused.

"What type of plan." He asked.

"I'm not telling you!" Zoe cried. "You'll find out soon too!"

"Fine." Mikey finished.

The pair were silenced again as they looked around the room.

"Um..." Zoe began. "You wouldn't happen to know what... Raph likes. Do you?"

Mikey's head whipped around to face her.

"Raph!" He almost shouted.

Zoe shushed him and nodded.

Mikey pressed his lips together and thought.

"Well... he likes bikes. He's a biker of sorts."

"Right. And biker's like... leather... right?" Zoe asked him.

"I guess." Mikey shrugged.

"Ok. Thanks." Zoe nodded again and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mikey asked.

"I need a little bit of help with this plan. I'm going to ask Gracie for some stuff."

"Gracie? Really?"

"Hey! She comes in handy plenty of times." Zoe smirked. "See ya 'round Mikey."

"Bye Zo!" Mikey called out after her. "Good luck!"

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**Omg... I just thought about the next chapter... I am seriously considering upping the rating on this story. XD :X Obviously the next one is already done (like I wrote, Ive had some done for a long time)**

**Anyway, I put out this chapter the day after the other... you know. Just cause I can. :) **

**And I havn't actually checked right now but, 74 comments! OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS! XD I'll do an average of comments to a chapter on my next one. If I can be bothered.**

**Please tell me if you are confused, or if I made a mistake. Like I said before, you guys are all awesome (whether you commented or not).**

**BYE!**

**~MR**


	19. Chapter 18 Raph's Feelin' Like A Perv

**(Author's note: You watch one Anime episode, listen to Britney Spears after it, decide to continue on with your TMNT fan fiction and THIS is what you get. -,- )**

Raph wondered if what he was seeing was real. After all, there was no possible way.

Well... could there have been?

He gulped. What else could he do? What would any guy do with a girl, one whom he had only shown anger to, who had shown up wearing a black leather one-piece, no sleave or leg-coverage outfit (think Alice Cooper – Poison), with a top hat, just for him? When the rest of the guys were out? Could she have possibly known!

Questions were running through his mind. Then, when she brought out the whip, his thoughts made him blush.

Then Britney played. And the lights turned out. Except for the one single spot light that seemed to stay on her.

'Circus' was playing in the background as she danced with pole Raph didn't even know was there. She was pole dancing.

How? Wasn't she innocent? She always acted like it.

Oh how wrong he was.

'_I run a tight ship.'_

Her whip cracked just by him. How did she learn how to do that?

'_So beware.' _

Was he breathing? Raph didn't know. His face was hot, he knew that. His thoughts were running wild. He knew that too. But the question that really was vague to him was, is that really _Zoe_?

The dancer took off her hat a flung it in an odd direction. Zoe's blonde hair shone underneath the light and Raph gulped again.

She pulled herself onto Raph's lap and brought his arms up to her thighs. Raph's breathe caught in his throat.

The radio played behind them.

'_Everybody let go, we can make a dance floor, just like a circus.'_

"Aha." Zoe breathed on his neck as she grinded into him.

She smirked as she pulled back from his neck to gaze into his eyes... which were closed.

"Uh..." She spoke. "Raph?"

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"Oh shell, I think I over did it!" Zoe cried as Don and Mikey dragged Raph over to the examination table in Don's lab.

"Don't worry about it Zoe. The guy fainted is all." Ava reassured and rubbed Zoe's arm affectionately.

"Oh, double shell! I definitely over did it!" Zoe cried again and clutched her hair.

"Zoe, come on, it's ok. People... and I'm guessing turtles... do faint!" Gracie spoke with a slight smile on face.

"Pfft! I've never fainted." Lara scoffed.

"True." Gracie agreed.

"But you're heartless." Mikey cut in.

Lara turned around to face the orange turtle and growled. She grabbed a long pipe that had been sitting on a work bench and stalked over to Mickey.

Mickey gave a quick 'Oh ho' and ran.

Lara chased Mikey around the room with the pipe, screaming something about 'being sorry you were ever born' and 'shoving this pipe up his shell'.

"Enough!" Zoe shouted at the two.

They both stopped and stared at the girl, whose tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Zoe turned around and sat down next to Raphael. She began to stroke his cheek affectionately.

"You'll wake Raphy." She murmured in the silence.

Everyone looked at her and then at each other, confused.

"Zoe." Ava spoke. "How did he even get this way?"

Zoe blushed slightly.

"Well... I decided to dance for him." She stuttered slightly.

"And?"

"He just fainted." Zoe's eyes never left Raph's face as she spoke.

"Really?" Ava paused. "What were you dancing to?"

"C-circus by Britney Spears." She spoke.

"And how were you dancing?" Ava pressured.

"You know... like how normal people dance."

"In that outfit?" Ava scanned her sister. Zoe blushed again.

"Y-yes." She replied as she creased the brim of the hat she had in her hands.

"Ok." Ava said. "What were you dancing?"

At this Zoe turned to face her.

"Huh?" She asked.

"What I mean is, were you dancing something like the tango, Latin dancing, Irish dancing." Ava continued.

"How can you Irish dance to Circus?" Lara muttered.

"I... uh..." Zoe stuttered. The blush on her face grew heavier as a hand moved over her mouth.

"Well?" Ava demanded.

"Well... I was kinda... sorta..." Zoe murmured something quietly.

"Pardon?" Ava questioned.

"I was... pole dancing." Zoe spoke a little louder.

There was a slight silence before the room erupted with a lot of "WHAAAT!"

"Well... I wanted to basically tell him that I'm attracted to him." Zoe spoke in her defence.

"And you thought that pole dancing was the best way to do it!" Lara demanded.

"Well... yeah!" Zoe nodded. "Although... now that I think about it, I could've done something a bit more... subtle."

"A bit! Where did you even FIND that outfit!" Lara shouted.

"In a dress-up shop." Zoe replied.

"So you did this ALL by yourself!"

"Hey! It wasn't just me! Gracie helped!" Zoe dobbed.

"Me! I just got a stereo and managed to make a light that would follow your movement, I didn't actually know what you were doing!" Gracie panicked.

Zoe frowned. More tears began to brew in her eyes. Everyone was watching her and Zoe felt their eyes. She felt a lot of pressure that she had done something completely wrong.

'In a way.' She thought. 'I have.'

"Oh!" She cried. "I knew I over did it!"

She began to sob as she stood up and ran out of the room.

Unsure of where to go (her room was too far away to run to), she ran into Raph's room. She collapsed onto the edge of his bed and cried into his blankets.

Realising that he probably would get angry at her if she got his sheets wet, she pushed herself off his bed and sat in a corner. She pulled her legs up to her chest and put her face in them. Her sobs echoed around the silent room. The door was shut and the lights were off, so she stayed like that in the silent room, waiting.

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Raph woke up not long after Zoe had left and rubbed his eyes.

He looked around the room and saw Don, Ava, Mikey, Gracie and Lara.

"What the shell happened?" He asked as he put a hand to his head.

"You fainted." Don spoke matter-of-factly.

"No way." Raph denied.

"Sorry bro, but you did!" Mikey laughed. "Zoe was the witness."

"Zoe..." Raph trailed off. The memory of Zoe's dance made him blush and almost faint again.

"Dude! You're as red as your mask!" Mikey laughed.

"Shuddup!" Raph growled.

"She told us what she did. It's no wonder you fainted." Gracie reassured as Raph turned red again.

There was a slight pause.

Lara glanced at Donatello, who was watching Gracie.

'_I know exactly what you're going through.' _She thought.

She sighed and turned.

"I'm going out, ok?" She spoke and left the room.

"Wait!" Raph shouted after her. He jumped off the bed and followed her out.

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Zoe had finally decided to come out of Raph's bedroom to see if he was awake yet. She opened the door slightly and heard him yelling down the hall. He was having an argument with Lara.

"I swear Lara, it was all her! I didn't do nothin!" Raph shouted at her.

"Raph, I don't care!" Lara argued back.

"Come on Lars! Please, just give me a chance!" Raph pleaded.

'_I'd haven't heard him sound so desperate.' _Zoe thought.

"Raph, when are you gonna get it through your thick skull. I DON'T like you!" Lara emphasized.

"What?" Raph asked.

"I don't like you like that, Raph! I never have!" Lara replied.

"But, why!" Raph demanded.

"Because I like someone else!" Lara confessed.

"Who?" Raph demanded. "I'll rip 'em to shreds!"

"Oh yeah, like I'd tell you anyway after that threat!" Lara shouted as she began walking away.

"Who!" Raph shouted. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"It doesn't matter! He doesn't think of me in that way anyway!" Lara snapped and pulled her arm from him.

"Then give me a chance." Raph begged. "Please." He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him.

Lara looked in his eyes and shook her head.

"Then at least tell me who it is."

Lara looked away from him to the floor, then back at him.

"Sticks and shells will break my heart, for he will never love me." She murmured, tears growing in her eyes. She pulled away from him and walked away.

Zoe calmly walked out of Raph's room, her eyes faced the ground.

The sound of Raph's begging voice echoed in her head.

'_He doesn't love me.'_ She thought as she walked passed him. She didn't even know that tears were streaming down her face.

Raph noticed that Zoe was walking past him and saw the tears.

'_How long had she been listening?'_ Raph wondered.

He glanced over her retreating body and saw that she was still wearing the outfit she had danced in.

Raph's breathe caught in his throat as the memories flooded his mind.

He shook his head and went into his bedroom. He flicked on the light and looked around the room.

Raph became confused as he noticed that his bed was slightly wet. He looked around the room for more clues at who had been there, when his eyes went wide as he realised who it was.

Zoe had left her hat behind.

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Zoe rested her arms on the balcony of their apartment, letting the wind blow through her hair.

"Zo?" A voice called from behind her. "Zoe, are you ok?"

"How do you always know?" Zoe asked as she stood up and turned to face Ava.

"It's my job as the oldest to know." Ava smiled gently and walked up to her sister.

Zoe nodded and bit her lip. She turned around and placed her hands on the railing. Ava followed suit, but kept her eyes on Zoe.

"What's wrong?" Ava asked.

"Nothing." Zoe murmured.

"You asked me how I always know when someone is upset about something. So, something must be wrong. What is it?" Ava pushed.

Zoe bit her lip again.

"Raph doesn't like me." She murmured.

"What's not to like about you?" Ava asked but Zoe shook her head.

"No. Not in that way. What I mean is, he doesn't like me the way I like him. The way I want him to like me." She spoke.

"Oh?" Ava questioned. "How do you know?"

"I heard him talking to Lara. He likes Lara." Zoe replied.

"But Lara like's Don. Doesn't she?"

Zoe nodded. "I wish we knew that earlier. We could have used that plan on those two."

"Indeed." Ava agreed.

There was a slight pause.

"Well, you've got Raph, Lara likes Don, so who does Gracie like? It could be Mikey. I mean, who else is there?" Ava began. "Logic says that Leo and I are a perfect match. We've got the same interests and are both leaders. It only makes sense. Or maybe Gracie does like someone else. You know Gracie. She would lie about something to make someone else happy, or to help out. I suppose that it's really what I should do though. I am the oldest after all. That, and - "

"Mikey likes you." Zoe interrupted.

Ava looked at her with wide eyes.

"W-what?" she asked.

Zoe turned to face Ava, keeping a calm face on.

"Michelangelo likes you. Shell, he's in love with you. He keeps referring you to some sort of comic book hero or something." Zoe spoke before yawning.

She looked at her watch to check the time.

"I'm going to bed. I have to get up early for work anyway." Zoe murmured and turned to leave the balcony.

She stopped when she reached the door.

"Go easy on him Ava. If you're going to break his heart, please go easy on him. Mikey's like a big brother to me." Zoe said. She then opened the door and left.

Ava continued to stare at the spot that Zoe had stood in seconds before.

'_Could it possibly be?'_ Ava thought. _'Mikey likes me? Loves me?'_

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**Gah, so much heartbreak. I'm a cruel person. **

**Anyway! Sorry if parts seem a bit screwed up. If they are, please let me know. It's another one that I wrote ages ago. **

**And I employ you to look up the song (Alice Cooper – Poison), and skip it to the second verse ("Your mouth, so hot, your web, I'm caught. Your skin, so wet, black lace, on sweat"... Ok I never really thought of the song as that dirty until I wrote it down. O_O). Zoe's wearing an outfit like the girl on the video clip at that bit. If you happen to have 'Singstar 80's', it's on there too and you know what I'm talking/writing about. ;) **

**Ok, now if you excuse me, I have to finish a level on Lego: Indiana Jones. :)**

**Toodles! (omg lol. Sorry just felt like saying bye that way.)**

**~MR**


	20. Chapter 19 Leo's A Smooth Operator

Gracie sighed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. It was late. Zoe and Lara had gone to bed, while Ava had gone to her shift at the club. Gracie had sat down on a chair out on the balcony; a warm blanket was wrapped around her figure to keep her warm. Light tears pricked her eyes as she thought of the day she and Leo had almost...

'Almost what?' she wondered.

She shook her head. It didn't matter. Someone like Leo should be with Ava. They would be the perfect couple.

'Nothings perfect.'

The saying echoed inside of her head. Gracie smiled a little at the thought, but it dropped as quickly as it came. She took a sip out of her coffee that had gone cold. Her lips pursed in disgust as she sat her mug down.

Finally deciding she should go inside to bed, she stood up from her chair, grabbed the mug and headed for the door. "Come on coffee." She murmured.

She didn't notice the dark shadow that had dropped behind her, until a voice called out her name.

"Gracie?"

Gracie had dropped her mug and gasped. She turned quickly to face whoever had spoken.

"Sorry! I scared you again." Leo spoke. Gracie smiled at him. Cold liquid soon wrapped around her feet.

"Gracie your coffee!" Leo cried. He picked her up, and then put her down away from the spilt drink.

Gracie blushed at the contact. "It's alright Leo. It's gone cold."

"Oh." Leo blushed. "S-sorry about that."

Gracie smiled. "Leo?" She spoke. "Did you just stutter?"

Leo blushed harder and gulped. "N-no."

Gracie giggled. Leo coughed to pull himself together, as well as try to regain some dignity.

"Anyway!" Leo spoke. Gracie looked up at him intently

"I was wondering, would you like to g-go out tonight." Leo gulped. "With me."

Gracie blushed and nodded. "S-sure. I was planning on going to bed before, so just let me get changed."

"Why do you need to get changed?"

Gracie blushed harder.

"I'm in my pyjamas." She spoke, referring to her outfit hidden under the blanket. She turned and headed towards the door.

"The turtle ones?" Leo asked, smiling. Gracie froze and nodded, not trusting her voice.

She entered her home and walked to her room. Opening her door, Gracie rushed to her wardrobe and looked at her clothes. She bit her lip, trying to choose an outfit that was attractive, yet practical for the weather. Finally deciding on a pair of black jeans, a low blue top and a jacket, she quickly did her hair, put on some converse, added some jewellery and ran out of her room. Calming down before she left the hallway, she readjusted her glasses before walking out into the lounge, and headed towards the balcony.

"Ready to go?" Leo asked as she came out. Gracie bit her lip and considered changing her outfit into something more jaw-dropping, but nodded. Leo smiled at her. "Then let's go."

He held out his hand for her, and she took it hesitantly. Before she knew it, Leo had pulled her close to his plastron and wrapped his arms around her waist. Gracie blushed as she felt his breath on her face.

"Hold on tight." He whispered to her. He pulled her behind him before wrapping her arms around his neck. Leo grabbed her legs, then ran to the edge of the balcony and jumped. Gracie, suddenly realising what was happening, buried her head in Leo's neck. Leo smiled gently at the contact, and the couple soon landed on the roof next to them.

Eventually, Gracie ignored the feeling of the wind that rushed by her, and concentrated on the body underneath her. She was surprised by the slight warmth that came off the turtle, and also at Leo's alluring scent. She kept her head in his neck as the trip wore on, until he finally came to a stop. He let go of her legs gently, and she slowly slipped to the ground.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Leo asked as he slipped his hand into Gracie's. Gracie nodded, blushing lightly, then noticed something on the rooftop they were on.

"Oh my gosh, Leo!" Gracie gasped. "Did you do this?"

She took a couple of steps forward towards the picnic rug on the ground. There was a basket, plate and such set up, with two white candles on silver holders. The candles had been lit and lightly fluttered in the cold air.

Leo blushed as Gracie stood in awe.

"Do you like it?" Leo asked.

"Leo, I love it!" Gracie giggled. Leo smiled at her and dragged her to the blanket. Gracie sat down opposite Leo and smiled. Leo opened up the picnic basket, and brought out some hot food. Pizza.

"I hope you don't mind." Leo spoke. "It was the only thing I could get on such short notice."

Gracie smiled at him and nodded. Leo served a slice for her and himself. The couple ate in peace, sneaking glancing at the other. When they were done eating, Leo stood up . Gracie watched as he went off to a darker part of the roof, and brought back a square object. Sitting it down, he pressed a button and music began. Leo held out a hand to Gracie.

"Care to dance?" Leo asked. Gracie blushed and took his hand. He pulled her up, and held onto one hand. Leos other hand snuck itself around her waist, as Gracie's sat itself on his shoulder. The two began to sway, when Leo stopped.

"Wait." He murmured. Reaching out from behind his head, he pulled his bandana until it fell from his face. Gracie watched him, and her breathe hitched as she stared into his dark eyes. The piece of fabric fell to the ground below the two, unnoticed by the pair.

Gracie bit her lip and pulled off her glasses.

"Gracie, don't you need them to see?" Leo asked. Gracie smiled at him. She sat them on the ground by the blanket before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small box.

"I finally got contacts." Gracie murmured. She opened the box and began putting the little objects in her eyes. When she was done, she sat the box back in her pocket, blinked, and looked back up at Leo. Seeing him slightly clearer then she could with her glasses, she smiled.

Leo held his own breathe, before the returning the smile. The pair then continued dancing. Together they swayed, circled, and danced as if they had done it for years. They continued to stare at each other's eyes, their hearts beating faster as they went. The song slowed down, nearing the finish. The couple slowed down too, and soon finished their dance. The next song began to play, but neither of them noticed.

"G-Gracie." Leo stuttered. "I..."

The pair moved closer simultaneously, their eyes slowly closing. Just as they were about to touch, a scream was heard. Gracie jumped in fright and Leo sighed. He reached down to pick up is mask.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. Leo jumped down from the tall building, and Gracie ran to the edge to see what the commotion was about. Across the street from where the picnic was, a lady could be seen in the lamplight. A man had hold of her arm and she struggled to pull out of it.

"Excuse me." Leo spoke. The attacker turned around. "I don't think that the nice lady appreciates you grabbing her like that."

The culprit growled at him before pushing the woman to the ground. The woman whimpered before getting up and running.

Gracie watched the scene below her unfold. The thug tried to hit Leo, but he managed to defend himself well. Soon, the attacker was lying on the ground unconscious. Gracie smiled at Leo, who managed to jump back up onto the roof without any harm.

"Show off." She murmured cheekily as Leo walked towards her.

"So," Gracie continued. "Do you always save beautiful damsels in distress, or is it just a part of the job."

Leo smirked.

"If I only saved beautiful damsels in distress, you would have been the only woman I had ever rescued." He said. Gracie blushed at the remark and turned her back to him to hide it. She heard Leo chuckle behind her as she did.

"Well!" Gracie finally spoke up. "It's getting rather late, and I have work tomorrow."

"What time is it?" Leo asked.

"One a.m."

"It's early!" Leo smiled, then wrapped his arms around Gracie's waist and spun around. Gracie laughed as she felt the world spin. Leo put her back down and looked deep in her eyes.

"You know, it's a good thing I'm not wearing my glasses right now or else they would have flown right off!" Gracie giggled. Leo chuckled at her, then tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.

Gracie blushed at the contact and her breath caught in her throat.

"Gracie... I..." Leo gulped. "I want to give you something."

"What?"

Leo pulled away from her and walked over to the picnic basket. He reached in before pulling out a small, blue box. Gracie bit her lip as Leo stood in front of her and opened it. Gracie gasped. Inside the box was a silver necklace. There was a heart that was on the necklace, but that was not what caught Gracie's eye. Inside the heart, was a silver turtle.

"Oh Leo, it's beautiful!" Gracie cried as she touched the delicate piece of jewellery. "How on Earth did you get it?"

"Well, this may come off as a bit of a shock to you, but you and your sisters are not the only people that know about my family." Leo replied.

"Not another group of girls I hope." Gracie eyed suspiciously.

"April's more like a sister to me. Such as her boyfriend, Casey, is like a brother. " Leo smiled. "You're the only girl for me, Gracie."

Leo blushed at the comment he let slip out, and Gracie mirrored his actions. She bit her lip and touched the necklace again.

"Can you please help me put it on?" Gracie asked. Leo smiled and nodded. Gracie turned around. She watched as the silver necklace came forward down her face and sat gently on her neck. After a few moments of fumbling and grunts, Leo had finally done up the necklace.

"S-sorry." He murmured. "My fingers are too thick."

Gracie bit her lip, but held his hands in hers.

"Your fingers are perfect." She murmured.

"Nothing's perfect." Leo replied.

"You are."

Leo blushed at the comment.

"Gracie... I need to ask you something." Leo began, but he was interrupted by the sound of music coming from Gracie's pocket. Gracie blushed and pulled out her phone before Taylor Swift could continue singing the end of the chorus of 'Fearless'.

"H-hello?" She stuttered. Ava's voice was heard at the other end. She had just come home to find Gracie not there, and had begun to worry.

"Alright Ava. I'll be home soon." Gracie sighed. She hung up her phone and looked back up at Leo.

"Now, what did you need to ask me?"

"Don't worry. It's nothing." Leo spoke. "Let's just get you home."

Gracie frowned but nodded. She picked up her glasses, removed her contacts, put them back in their box, then sat her glasses on her face. Leo turned around and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He muttered "Hold on" Before grabbing her thighs again and leaping off the roof. Gracie noticed that they moved at a slower pace this time, but still kept her head in the crook of Leo's neck. All too soon, Leo stopped on Gracie's apartment balcony. He let her go and she slipped to the ground. Leo turned around to face Gracie, his back to the balcony door.

"I had a nice night." Gracie smiled. "And you had planned it all."

"Well not everything." Leo admitted. He blushed lightly. "I hadn't planned on stuttering."

Gracie giggled. "Or blushing, I take it?"

Leo blushed harder.

"Don't worry." Gracie assured. "Everything was great. You're quite the charmer."

Leo bit his beak.

"Gracie... I was wondering..."

The door to the balcony could be heard opening, and Leo and Gracie turned towards the sound.

"Oh! Hello Leo. Didn't expect to see you here." Ava smiled.

Leo nodded. "I had just come to return Gracie."

Gracie blushed lightly. "Uh... yeah. I, uh... went out for a walk and he brought me home."

"That's very kind of you Leo." Ava spoke.

"Yeah." Leo gulped.

The three stood there in silence for a few moments ,the cool breeze that came in slowly calmed Gracie's blush.

"Well!" She finally spoke. "I had better get ready for bed. I have work tomorrow."

"Of course." Leo replied. "I'll see you sometime soon?"

"Yes. Of course." Gracie smiled. "Thank you Leo. For everything."

Gracie grabbed Leo's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before she headed inside. Leo watched her as she went in. She smiled at him one last time before closing the door behind her and going to bed. Ava watched this curiously, but didn't say a word.

"So," Ava spoke when Gracie left. "I suppose you had better get back to your nightly patrol."

"Yes." Leo said. "I probably should. Goodnight Ava."

Leo turned away and jumped off the balcony, leaving Ava alone by herself. She smirked as she watched his retreating back.

"Goodnight Romeo."

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**Must... resist urge... to kill... AVA! Gah. If it wasn't for Mikey!... I'd probably only have three girls instead of four. And even then I would still have Ava. Just had Gracie with Leo, Ava with Raph, and Lara with Don (no Zoe, see). -_-' **

**Also, I'm concerned that I made this waaaay too lovey-dovey. And that I switched Leo and Gracie's attitudes around too much. Ah well, gets the point across. Leo knows what he wants, and won't stop until he gets it. The only thing is, he hasn't quite got it yet. He's trying, but always gets interrupted. Man, that'd be frustrating. **

**Everything should be just about clearing up now, but feel free to ask Q's to receive A's! :) **

**Average is 5 comments to a chapter. Ok, so actually it's like 5.111111111, but I can't exactly have 0.11111 of a comment. ;3**

**Loven you guys!**

**~MR**


	21. Chapter 20 Head Pain and Heart Ache

Ava coughed.

"Great." She mumbled. "I spend an extra shift at work for one night, then it just happens to rain when I start to walk home." She coughed again, then wrapped her blanket around her tighter.

"I could really go for some hot chicken soup."

Ava looked around the lounge room, thinking. The rest of the girls had gone to work, so she was home alone. Standing up, she gently let herself walk to the kitchen. However, the moment she stepped on the kitchen floor tiles, she shrunk back into the lounge. A shiver ran up her body, and then she retreated to sit back near a heater. Finally deciding on what to do, she bit her lip as she picked up the phone.

"Hello, Cowabunga Carl Party Service, this is Mikey speaking. How may I help you?" An overly cheery voice spoke.

"M-Mikey?" Ava stuttered as she shivered.

"Ava? Is that you? What's wrong?" Mikey replied.

"I-I have a cold." Ava shivered again. "Would you mind coming over and cooking me some soup? I'd do it myself, but the kitchen tiles are cold."

Ava coughed again as she waited for his answer.

"Please?"

Ava heard Mikey sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Sure. I'll come. Make sure the balcony doors unlocked." Mikey replied.

Ava smiled. "Thank you so mu-"

There was beeping heard. Mikey had hung up the phone. Ava's head hurt.

"I thought he was supposed to like me." Ava murmured. "Maybe Zoe was wrong."

Ava tried to ignore the light sting in her chest as she got up to unlock the balcony door. After a few minutes of waiting, she had to go to the bathroom. Shivering as she left the warmth of the heater, she managed to walk down the hallway and to the bathroom. She bit her lip as she pressed down on one of the tiles. The cold brought pain to her foot, but she tried to ignore it. Mikey could not go to the toilet for her.

Closing the door, Av quickly did her business and washed her hands. Every second she spent in the room, she got colder and colder. Her hands froze under the cold tap water, and it was hard for her to turn off the taps. By the time she was done, her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. She gasped as she grabbed hold of the door handle and pulled. As she took another step, her foot caught on her blanket. Letting out a slight scream, she fell to the ground. The pain she felt was intensified from her cold, as when she gets sick her body becomes sensitive. Because of this, Ava was hurt so bad that she passed out.

Her last thought was hoping that she remembered to unlock the balcony door.

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Mikey rubbed his head as he jumped on the balcony. He re-adjusted his disguise before heading towards the door.

"What am I doing?" He hesitated. "Ava wants Leo. Not me. Ugh, I should have just told him to come."

He began to turn back, but his gut was stopping him. Even if Ava wouldn't give him a second glance, she was still his friend. His friend was sick and asked for his help.

"If she wanted Leo, she could have just asked me on the phone." Mikey muttered. He began to head back to the door when the thought of Ava and Leo holding hands entered his mind.

"Gah-ha-hah! What do I do?" He cried. He rubbed his head again before heavily sighing. He quickly shook it and headed for the door. "No. She asked for me to come and help her. Not Leo. Not anyone else. Me."

Mikey bit his beak as he held the door handle. "Besides." He muttered. "Leo couldn't make a chicken soup as good as me."

He pulled the door open and looked inside.

"Hello?" He called. "Anyone here?"

There was no answer. He stepping inside cautiously and looked around.

"Hm. If this is some stupid joke to get back at me for doing one on Gracie, it ain't funny." He muttered. He looked in the kitchen and growled.

"Yep. I knew it. We can't get around Mikey any other way, so let's just screw around with his heart."

He took a quick glance down the hallway as he headed for the door, but then did a double take. Just outside the bathroom door was a hand. Fear and worry began to curl up in Mikey's gut as he walked steadily down the hallway.

"Ava?" He called out. "Aves?"

When Mikey reached the door, he gasped.

"Ava!"

He got down on one knee and gently touched her face.

"Aves? Please wake up." He murmured.

He pulled her into his arms and stood up. Looking down at her sleeping figure, he noticed she was shaking.

"It's ok Aves." He murmured. "I got you."

Ava seemed to snuggle closer to his figure. "Mikey." She murmured in her sleep. "Mmm... Hero."

Mikey blushed, but smiled at the comment. He sat down in front of the heater with her on his lap. He was about to leave her there by herself when her arms wrapped around him. Mikey blushed again. Although Ava had no idea what was going on, she smiled into him.

"So... warm." She murmured.

Mikey gulped and his breathe quickened. For a moment, he wondered what would happen if she woke up. Then he didn't care. Gently, he let his hand touch her head, then flow down her hair. He repeated this process, and Ava continued to smile. Mikey did too as he felt the smoothness of her light waves. For a long time, he felt calm. His arms relaxed around her waist and soon, he was asleep.

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Ava woke up in someone's arms. The thing is, she didn't want to open her eyes to check whose. She was afraid it was a dream. She bit her lip, but opened her eyes anyway. The feeling of someone else's body didn't disappear, and she blinked. She looked around and realised she was in the lounge.

'How did I get here?' She thought. 'Last I remember, I went to the bathroom. And then...'

Ava looked up to the face of the figure she was lying on. Her heart began beating rapidly faster in her chest as she noticed the orange mask. She bit her lip before raising a hand and gently touching Mikey's cheek. She then smiled at the deep breathing that he was emitting from his sleep.

Ava pulled her hand down and sat it on his plastron. Her fingers couldn't help but wander around the strange markings on it. She smiled again as they went along every crevice and curve, finding swirls and scratches. A warm feeling crept into her chest.

'Maybe Leo isn't the one for me...' she thought, ignoring her head this once.

Ava was so entranced by the turtles inner shell, that she didn't notice a tickle in her throat until it was too late. She quickly reached a hand to her mouth to cover her cough, but it was so loud that it didn't matter. Mikey woke up to the sound.

"A-Ava?" Mikey stuttered. He blushed, realising the position they were in. "I-I'm sorry! You were just on the floor, and I, and then,"

Mikey cut himself off as he noticed how bad Ava was coughing. He sat a hand on her back.

"Are you ok?"He asked.

Ava nodded, but let out a few more. "Just my cold." She muttered.

Mikey nodded. Ava sat down onto the floor and Mikey moved to get up.

"I suppose I had better get to making that chicken soup huh?" He spoke. Ava looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you Mikey." She replied. "You didn't have to come."

"Hey." He grinned. "What are friends for? I'd do anything for you dudettes."

Ava nodded and watched as Mikey escaped to the kitchen.

"So why couldn't you do it yourself." Mikey spoke without thinking. He silently cursed himself after he did.

"The kitchen tiles were cold." Ava replied.

At this Mikey stopped his actions.

"Why didn't you just put shoes on?" He asked.

At this Ava paused. Why hadn't she put shoes on? She sighed.

"I didn't think about that." She muttered. Mikey chuckled in the other room. Ava shivered lightly, missing Mikey's warmth.

It wasn't long until Mikey had come back out of the kitchen, chicken soup in hand. Ava grinned as she took the bowl and spoon. Instead of using the spoon though, she sat it down and drank from the bowl. Mikey watched her in surprise.

"I didn't know you'd eat it like that, Ava." Mikey smiled. Ava sat the bowl down onto her lap and blushed.

"Thanks for the soup." She spoke. "D-did you want some?"

She held out the bowl to him, and Mikey shook his head.

"I made extra just in case." He replied.

Ava nodded and continued to sip her soup. She smiled as she felt the warmth of it go down her throat and into her stomach.

"So," Mikey spoke, standing up. "I suppose I'll be going then."

"So soon?" Ava said, her voice wavering.

"Yeah." Mikey muttered. "I mean... I have stayed here longer then intended. We did fall asleep."

Ava blushed lightly at the memory of being in Mikey's arms.

"Well... couldn't you stay a little longer?" Ava begged. Her heart beat increased on this one thread of hope. Mikey bit his beak, but shook his head.

"Sorry Aves. The guys will be worried. I had better go."

The thread snapped, and so did Ava's heart.

"A-alright then." She murmured. Mikey pulled on his disguise and headed out onto the balcony. Without another word, he was gone.

Ava put on some shoes and headed for the kitchen. Walking in, the memory of Mikey and her throwing bubbles from the dishes in the sink came into her mind.

"He's the only guy that ever made me laugh." Ava put on a sad smile. "I guess I do like him."

She turned her head and looked out onto the balcony.

"But you were wrong Zoe." She muttered. "He doesn't love me."

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**I was originally going to have this as a happy ending but... I don't know. I guess I'm just a biatch. -_- I was also going to have it as Lara and Don (Don was going to play Doctor again! XD), but changed my mind on that when this came up. Possibly in the next chapter.**

**Poor Aves huh? The one time she goes with her heart instead of her head and she gets shut down. I think she's over looking things though. I have no idea what was going through Mikey's head when I finished this chapter, but it could have been the thought of Ava and Leo again. Then again, Mikey isn't the brightest of turtles. He probably didn't notice the hints. (Somebody got hit with the idiot stick in this chapter.)**

**Anyway, had an off again, on again time in this chapter. Not a busy day, but I wasn't really focused. I just thought 'There's an idea! Use it before it goes!'**

**Ok, bye you guys! Love you all my friends!**

**~MR**


	22. Chapter 21 Dr Don

Lara moved her shoulder around as she walked home from work at the gym. While she was doing a bit of training of her own on the punching bag, she had misjudged her impact and ended up hurting her left shoulder. She touched it gently before moving it again and sucking in a breath.

Shaking her head, she tried to suck it up as she walked along the familiar path. Just as she reached the opposite side of the apartments, she stopped and looked at the manhole. She smiled before running to it, looking around, and then opening it to jump in.

Lara closed the lid behind her and smiled as she made the short trek to what she calls her second home. Feeling her way along the wall in the dark, she made her way to a familiar part. She tapped on it a few times and called out. When no one answered, she frowned and put an ear to the wall. It opened suddenly, and she fell forward onto the ground. The turtle that opened it started laughing.

"That was a Zoe stunt." Lara muttered as she got on her knees.

"You ok there, Lara?" Don chuckled. Lara looked up at him and smiled. She tried to get up from the ground, but a bit of strain on her shoulder caused her to wince. Don noticed this and frowned.

"Bit of pain?"

"Yeah. My left shoulder." Lara replied and moved it around.

"Don't move it." Don ordered and gently touched her shoulder. He put a bit of pressure on it in places, but tried his best not to cause Lara any harm. Lara only just managed to hold back a blush.

"Come with me." Don spoke, grabbed Lara's hand and led her to his lab. This time, Lara could stop the red from entering her cheeks.

Don led her in and told her to sit down on the bed there. She did as he ordered, and Don gently touched her shoulder again.

"Tell me when I hurt you." He said.

"You could never hurt me." Lara smirked. Don moved his hand around and began to press a little firmer onto her shoulder.

"Ow!"

"So I take it that it hurts there?" Don asked, moving his finger around the spot. Lara hissed.

"Please, stop that!"

Don hummed as he let go. "That doesn't feel right."

"How do you know?" Lara asked.

Don smiled at her. "Because your shoulder felt different the last time I checked you over."

"Oh." Lara murmured. She thought about the night she and Don had first me. She smirked a little at the memory.

"Sorry for being such a jerk to you." She spoke.

"Hey, don't worry about it." He assured. "We had just met. I understand that you were suspicious."

Don turned away from her and headed towards the first aid kit.

"So, Doc." Lara smiled. "What's the verdict?"

Don smiled. "You'll live. It's just a dislocated shoulder. I'll help pop it back in place."

Lara paled slightly. Don grabbed the kit and turned back to her.

"What is it Lara?" He frowned.

"Will it hurt?" She murmured.

"You've been through worse." Don spoke

"Yes, but..." Lara bit her lip. "Not voluntary."

Don smiled gently at her. "It'll only take a second."

Lara gulped lightly as Don held the back part of her shoulder and the place on her arm that was out of place.

"Ever done something like this?" Lara asked. Don shook his head no.

"Ever had a dislocated joint before?" Don asked her. She shook her head too. "Well then this is going to be interesting for the both of us."

Lara let out a weak "Mmhmm", before whimpering as Don put a bit of pressure on her shoulder.

She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come. She gulped and bit her lip as more strain was felt.

"Lara." Don spoke. "Open your eyes."

Lara did as he commanded. The first thing she saw was his eyes staring at her. Lara's breathe caught in her throat and her heart started pumping faster. She felt her body move forward to his, as if drawn to him. She gulped as she tried to steady her breath and get closer to his face. She licked her lips to ready them, and then

"AGH!" Lara cried out. Her body back away from his as she cried out and her head flipped back. The pain in her shoulder was intense and she had to snap her eyes closed to stop the tears from escaping.

"You okay Lara?" Don asked. He had let go of her and was standing back.

"Yeah." Lara spoke, slightly confused at how close she was before Don had popped her shoulder back in place.

Lara rubbed her shoulder lightly to help get rid of the pain and grimly smiled at Don.

"Thanks for that Donny. Would have been nice if I had a bit of a warning."

"You needed to be relaxed." Don replied as he grabbed a bandage from the first aid kit. "If anything, it would have been easier to fix it the moment it happened. The adrenaline rush from it would have made it easier to cope."

Don wrapped the bandage around Lara's shoulder.

"This is to make sure it stays in place." He spoke. Lara nodded and thought about how close she had been to kissing him.

Her mind strayed. Maybe he didn't want to kiss her. Maybe he just didn't care about her that way.

She gulped and tried to get the horrible feeling growing in her stomach to go away. She wiped away some unwanted tears.

"You ok Lars?"

"Yeah, Donny. I'm fine." Lara lied, her voice cracking lightly. "Just still in a bit of pain."

Don nodded. "I'm just sorry that I can't do anymore."

"Yes you could." Lara spoke without thinking.

"Like what?" Lara frowned.

'Kiss it better,' was her first thought, but bit her lip to prevent her from speaking.

"Got any medicine?" She smiled gently. Don grinned before diving into the medical kit and bringing out a packet.

"Take two of these." He spoke. Lara popped the pills out of their casings and into her mouth. She swallowed them quickly and hoped that the medicine would heal her fast.

The room was silent for a while. A heavy, awkward air surrounded the two.

"So... um." Don spoke. "How are the girls going?"

"Yeah, not bad." Lara replied. "Ava's getting better. Although Zoe may be getting her cold."

Don nodded and looked at the ground.

"And uh, Gracie?"

Lara sighed. "Don-"

"Please, Lara. You know how I feel about her. Haven't you ever felt this way about a friend?"

Lara sucked in a breath and blushed. "Y-yeah."

"Then how is she?"

Lara bit her lip.

"She seems a bit... happier."

"Happier?"

"Yeah. I don't really know what's going on but..."

Lara gazed over Don's face.

"Don, please." Lara begged. "Stop hurting yourself."

"But no one else understands me! And no other person would even accept me the way she does!" Don shouted.

"Don, you just have to let people in!" Lara cried back.

"Why? You always use that tough exterior. No one even has a clue what you're thinking."

"At least I'm trying!"

"You're not fooling anyone! The way you keep pushing Raph away-"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT RAPH!" Lara screamed. Tears had began to stream down her face. "I don't think of him in that way."

Don frowned in thought. "Then... Then who-"

"Why should it matter? He doesn't care about me in that way anyway." Lara sobbed, looking at the floor.

"Lara, how do you know that?"

Lara didn't answer. Instead she faced him square on. Her face had turned red and her eyes were slightly puffy.

Don looked at her with pity. "Lara-"

"Sticks and shells."

Don frowned again. "What?"

"Sticks and shells will break my heart for he will never love me." Lara spoke, her voice cracking slightly.

She hoped off of the table she was on and began to walk out of Don's lab.

"Bye Don." She called over her shoulder as she left the room.

She felt eyes stare into her back as she headed out of the lair. When she reached the door, she stopped.

"Can someone open this for me, please?" She asked weakly. A furry, clawed hand moved something near the entry way and the door opened.

Lara looked up at Splinter next to her. He sat a hand gently on her shoulder, as if to show that he understood.

"Thank you." Lara spoke with a hidden meaning.

Splinter nodded and was silently watching as she left the lair, and pieces of her broken heart behind.

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Dr. Don. Nothing at all like Dr. Phil. :/

Sorry this took a while. I keep forgetting whether it's my school or home netbook my work is on. I can't seem to do anything romantic right now. Well, except for Gracie.

Also! I recommend checking out my lovely friend MissKingLawliet. She is also writing a TMNT fan-fic called 'Till There Was You'. She's just started and the first chapter is freaking awesome. :)

Till next time my friends!

~MR


	23. Chapter 22 Emotional Rollercoaster

Zoe looked around in the dark of the sewer, trying to find her way to a familiar part of wall. When she did, she smiled. Pulling down a pipe above the wall, it quickly opened and she popped out into the light

"TADA!" She yelled with a wide grin spread on her face. Silence greeted her. She frowned and looked around the room.

"Helloooo?" She called out into the home. "Any turtles in here?"

She walked into the kitchen.

"Or possibly a certain rat?"

Zoe huffed and crossed her arms. She made her way to the couch and sat down.

"Well I'll just wait here then." She spoke. She crossed her legs on the couch and waited... and waited... and waited...

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"Have you found her yet?" Ava shouted at the shell cell that was Don's.

"Not yet. We must have checked this entire side of town!" The voice of Gracie spoke back, who was borrowing Leo's.

"This isn't looking too good guys." Lara replied from Mickey's cell. Muttering was heard in the background.

"Well if Lara had kept her temper then-"

"Hey!"

"Calm down you two!" Ava spoke. "Let's check somewhere else."

"Where else could she have gone?" Gracie asked.

There was a moment's hesitation before Lara replied.

"What about the warehouse?"

"No. We are not going there."Gracie argued.

"Well do you have a better idea?" Lara snapped.

Gracie was silent.

"Let's go then." Ava spoke, finalising the decision.

The girls each handed back the shell cell to their rightful owner before climbing on their backs and jumping into the night. They had asked the turtles to help them find Zoe, who had run out of the apartment from an argument with Lara. Raph had offered (meaning Leo had ordered) to stay at the apartment while the girls and his brothers were out, and Ava gave him a look that told him not to enter any rooms he shouldn't.

"So where's the warehouses you were talking about?" Don asked.

"Lara is the best person to ask. She went there a lot and new the way like the back of her hand." Ava replied as Don offered her to jump on his back. She complied and uncomfortably hopped on before the pair both headed off into the direction that Lara and Mickey were heading.

"So..." Don murmured.

Ava stayed silent, deciding not to speak until Don had said what was on his mind.

"How... How is Gracie?"

"She is fine." Ava answered swiftly with an uncaring tone. It was not Gracie that had any issues with her life. It was the rest of the family that were having trouble.

"No problems with her?" Don continued.

"Honestly, Gracie seems the better out of the rest of us right now." Ava spoke.

"Why? What's wrong with Lara?" Don questioned.

Ava smiled slightly before frowning.

"She came home crying the other day after going out and seeing you. I believe I should be asking you what is wrong with her."

Don bit his beak. "See... I just don't know."

"Oh." Ava said, feeling confused. "I just thought that considering she feels most comfortable with you-"

"What!" Don cried. "What about Raph?"

Ava laughed. "I assure you, Lara has no interest in Raph."

Don didn't reply, but continued to jump from roof top to roof top. His mind wandered around the thoughts of his and Ava's conversation. What could this mean?

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"For the love of shell Mikey, left I said, left!" Lara barked.

"Ooooh! I thought you meant my other left." Mikey spoke.

"We're both facing the same way! There is no 'other left'!"

"Geez will you calm down dudette?"

"Oh please, like my shouting isn't any different from Ava's."

"Hey!" Mikey stopped and pulled Lara off his back. "Don't you talk about Ava like that!"

"Why the shell should it matter!"

"She's your sister!"

"So? Raph's your brother, you still like to yank his bandana every once in a while." Lara snapped and put her hands on her hips.

"That's different!"

"Different how?" Lara smirked, knowing his reply.

"Raph's bossy. Ava tells people what to do to protect them. She's smart, wise, intelligent, caring, kind, loyal, calm, protective and beautiful!" Mikey's hand clasped over his beak quickly at the last word.

Lara began to laugh at the turtle in front of her.

"Gosh Mikey!" She spoke in between laughs. "You've got it bad!"

Mikey sighed as the girl laughed at him. His body slouched forward in defeat. Lara stopped laughing for a moment and glanced at Mikey, her face changing from joy to shock at the rejected looking turtle.

'Shell.' She thought. 'Come on Lara. You're a girl. Think girly. What would Gracie or Zoe do?... Aw shell, I know what they would do.'

Lara sucked in a breath and wrapped her arms around Mikey. Mikey froze for a second, shocked at the girls action.

"Its ok Mikey." Lara choked, tears of her own entering her eye. "I understand exactly what you mean."

"But... But I didn't say anything." Mikey replied.

"I love Don." Lara murmured.

Mikey thought for a second before it clicked. Don seemed to be more interested in Gracie since they met. Lara seemed to be pushed to the side, no matter how hard she tried to press forward, or how much Gracie seemed to turn away.

Mikey's arms wrapped around her in return, accidently bumping his shell cell.

"We'll make it through this." He spoke into her ear. "We'll make it together."

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"Leo, stop that!" Gracie giggled. Leo's arms lay clasped around Gracie's waist, and his nimble fingers occasionally flexed, giving her a slight tickle. He snuggled his head into the side of her neck, his breath giving her chills.

"Aw, come on Gracie. Lara and Mikey have stopped for a while. No one will notice." He chuckled.

Gracie giggled along and turned in his arms.

"Now, now, Fearless. We're on a mission. We need to concentrate on the task at hand. Zoe is missing and we need to find her." She spoke, and tapped his nose lightly. Leo wiggled it around and Gracie giggled. His face turned back to hers and he smiled. Finally, he noticed the chain around her neck.

"The necklace?"

Gracie grinned. "I've never taken it off since you gave it to me."

Leo leant his forehead on hers before breathing in slowly.

"You smell like lavender." He smiled.

Gracie giggled. "One of the most attractive scents to men."

Leo frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Lavender. Third most attractive scent. Second is vanilla, first is cinnamon." Gracie smiled as she looked into Leo's eyes. She closed her own, sniffed him lightly and cringed.

"You smell like sweat."

Leo smirked. "So?"

"The smell of body odour is actually a turn-off."

His grin fell. "Oh."

"But, the colour blue makes you attractive."

"Oh really?"

"Indeed. The colour blue on a man makes a woman believe you are stable, faithful, constant and always there." Gracie smiled. "So far it hasn't disappointed."

Leo laughed. "I knew there was a reason why I liked blue so much."

Gracie giggled before voices were heard from Leo's shell cell.

"We'll make it through this." A voice spoke from the cell. "We'll make it together."

Leo frowned as he glanced at it, and then the couple a few roof tops ahead.

"But... it doesn't make sense." He wondered out loud.

Gracie nodded. "Yeah... I mean, Lara... doesn't think of Mikey that way."

"Mikey..." Leo trailed off.

"And... if we heard it... doesn't that mean that Don and Ava...?"

Leo looked at Gracie, surprise evident on his face.

"This... is going to be interesting."

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"We'll make it through this." A voice spoke from the cell. "We'll make it together."

Ava's heart clenched and she closed her eyes to stop tears. She knew the voice. It was the one that haunted her dreams of late. She turned her head away from the scene in front of her, unable to handle watching him hold her sister.

"Mikey." She murmured gently. Confusion wrapped around her head. Didn't Lara like Don?

She took a few steps back, away from Don so he couldn't see her. But inside he was fighting a battle of his own. His throat had tightened at what Mikey had said, although he couldn't figure out why.

"Mikey, we should keep going." He heard Lara speak. "We have to find Zoe."

"Yeah. Right." Mikey replied. The turtle let go of her and let her climb on his back. "Oh. And Lara?"

"Yeah?" Lara replied.

"Thanks."

The pair were silenced as Lara hopped onto his back.

'She must have knocked his cell.' Ava guessed as she watched the pair jump away.

"Come on Av. Back to it." Don spoke.

Ava nodded and climbed back onto his back, taking a glance to see Leo and Gracie do the same. She smiled at her sisters luck as two more tears slipped down her cheeks.

'If only I was as lucky.' She thought. 'Mikey...'

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Finally at the warehouses, the six of them walked off into different directions. Unfortunately, none of them could find the blonde, bouncy girl.

"Where is she!" Lara growled.

"We've checked everywhere." Gracie sighed.

"Girls." Ava murmured. Her sisters looked at her only to notice that she wasn't looking at them. She was looking at a police cruiser a few metres ahead of them. "That... looks like-"

"Dad's car!" Gracie yelled and ran towards the vehicle.

Lara sighed sadly behind her sisters as they headed towards the car. She followed slowly behind as the turtles watched.

Ava and Gracie walked around the car, taking in every detail.

"It must be his car." Gracie murmured. "There's the pink tape wrapped around the steering wheel when Zoe accidently pulled off a bit of the covering."

Ava nodded and opened one of the doors. "Here's the mark you made when you wore your new heeled shoes to his and mums anniversary."

"And here's the paint mark you put on when we were painting the house."

"And here's Lara's name written on the dash."

Lara felt tears well up in her eyes as her sisters continued. Eventually, all three of them were sobbing at each memory.

"Wait." Ava spoke through tears. "If this is his car... then where is the warehouse?"

Lara pointed to the square of cement not far from the car. Its black beams that had been leftover still stood since the night Lara and Raph had seen it. The girls grouped together and stood in front of the old ruins. Lara grabbed her wallet from her pocket, then pulled out the photo of her family.

"Raph and I were here awhile ago." She spoke. "I found this in dad's wallet."

The other two smiled at the photo before faint laughing was heard. By then, the turtles had caught up with them.

"I think we had better get out of here." Leo spoke, lightly grabbing Gracie's arm. Gracie nodded and pulled herself onto his back before the pair jumped away. Lara bit her lip as she looked at Mikey. She could see he was struggling whether to take Ava or herself back home.

'This could be a chance for either of us.' Lara thought. 'It is better to have loved than lost...'

"Don?" She spoke.

Don looked her way. "Yes?"

"Mind if I... show you one of my favourite spots in New York?" She asked hesitantly.

Don nodded. "Sure."

"Lara." Ava murmured. Lara turned towards her older sister.

"Yeah?"

"Can I... can I please look at the photo for a while"

Lara gave her a sad smile and nodded. She handed the photo over to Ava without hesitation, before Don let her climb on his back.

"We'll see you soon." Don spoke before he jumped away.

Ava stared at the photo in her hands, and looked back up at the destruction.

"I'm a horrible sister." She murmured.

"What?" Mikey spoke. "No. No you're not."

"I am!" She snapped. "I'm a horrible daughter too!"

"Ava." Mikey softly murmured. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her towards him.

"If only I had been there for her. I knew she was hurting." Ava said aloud. "I should have begged mum to let her go to those boxing classes."

"Come on Ave, you had no idea what was going to happen." Mikey replied. Ava turned around and faced him in his arms.

"How can you even stand to be around me?" She cried as tears began to run from her eyes. "I'm a fool, an imbecile! I need to be punched in the face and kicked in the kidneys."

Mikey laughed and held on to her tighter. He smiled and placed his head on hers. "Aw, come on dudette. You can't be that bad."

"Yes I can. I've completely ruined any form of relationship I can ever have with..." Ava's last words sounded like mumbling as she moved her face closer to Mikey's plastron. Mikey frowned.

"Who?"

Ava swallowed. "Don't worry."

"What?" Mikey cried and looked into her eyes. "Of course I'm going to worry dudette! You're crying."

"It's just..." Ava bit her lip. "I really like... this... guy, right?"

Mikey's throat tightened. "Yeah?"

"How will I know he likes me back?"

"Well... if he does... then he probably should have told you already."

"Oh." Ava's eyes felt watery again. "But... what if he hasn't. How do I tell him?"

"Look, Ave." Mikey sighed. "I'm probably not the best one to ask."

"But... what clues would a girl have to give you in order to explain her attraction?"

Mikey frowned and thought.

"Well?"

"Hang on a minute, I'm thinking."

"Oh," Ava replied. "Well be careful then."

Mikey stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"Thinking. It's dangerous. It can get you into a lot of trouble, thinking."

Mikey laughed at the joke and smiled at her.

"Well I suppose that if a girl tries to give me a good laugh, it's a hint." Mikey smiled.

"But... everyone could do that."

"True." Mikey murmured and thought again.

Ava stared at his eyes and her breathe caught in her throat, realising how close they were.

"Well... I suppose that I would notice if she wanted to hang out with me more."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And if she wanted to do stuff with me. Like skateboarding."

"Ok then." Ava smiled. Feeling a bit more confident, Ava snuggled in closer to Mikey's warm embrace.

'Maybe.' She thought. 'Maybe...'

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Raph yawned as he walked through the sewers. He was in need of a good shut-eye after he spent most of the night bored out of his mind. He had waited in the girls' apartment for hours until Gracie and Leo entered. Leo had suggested that Raph go home, and he agreed. There was no way he was staying around while Leo and Gracie did Lord knows what.

Opening the door to the lair, he noticed Master Splinter sitting on the couch, watching the end of the news. It wasn't long until he also noticed the blonde girl lying next to him, her head on his knee. Raph bit his beak before getting a red blanket and laying it over the Zoe. He smiled as she murmured in her sleep.

"Raphael." His father spoke. Raph turned and the rat motioned for his son to come forward.

Master Splinter gently grasped Zoe's head and held it up as he stood. He instructed Raph to sit where Splinter was sitting before, and carefully placed Zoe's head upon his sons lap. He turned off the TV and began to walk away to his room, ignoring Raph's hushed protests.

"Goodnight Raphael." Master Splinter called quietly out quietly as he walked to his room. "Sweet dreams."

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***Yawn.* ... I'm tired (obviously.) ... Anywhoo! I added a readers comment in there! (the one about Ava getting punched and kicked in the kidneys. Lol. Thanks AJ92) I was going to put a fight scene in, but I didn't. Well, more like a 'Holy crap! Injured!', but it didn't happen. It just flowed on. So I wasn't expecting that whole 'dealing with death' scene.**

**Also, I am sensing a bit of Ava hate (Or more like people are practically screaming it at me). Is there any way that I can somehow get people to like her? (WITHOUT her dying preferably. Otherwise, you will leave Mikey unhappy. Mikey haters.) I was actually hoping that whole 'Oh wow, Ava actually has a heart' scene would work. I mean, come on guys, she's a fictional character made up in my mind. Therefore, she is a part of me.**

**And now Im bleeding again. -_- Darn mosquito bites.**

**Well, nighty-night my lovely readers!  
**

**~MR**

**(-After finishing everything, saving, putting the chapter on fanfic and checking the time.- Me: ITS THREE FREAKING A.M!)**


	24. Chapter 23 Hide and Go Love

**Love me or hate me, its still an obsession. Love me or hate me that is the question. If you love me then, THANKYOU! If you hate me then... **

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Lara smiled at the warmth from the turtle she was on. She occasionally blanked out when giving directions to her favourite spot as she continued to think that it was just going to be her and Don. Don and her. No turtles just nearby, and none of her sister will be around. Just her and her turtle crush.

Then, they stopped.

"The junkyard?" Don questioned.

"Well... yeah." Lara replied shyly as she climbed off Don.

"Why the junkyard?"

"My sisters and I used to play hide and seek tag here after mum and dad..." Lara let out a nervous cough. "Anyway. We used to do it whenever we had a free night together. It kind of brought us closer together as a family, you know? Now we just go clubbing and get drunk off our head. Well, Zoe and I do. Ava's too square to be drunk and Gracie's too afraid to even touch a drink. But we're still close."

"Hide and seek tag?"

Lara nodded. "You know. Someone counts to a certain number while the others hide, and when they find someone they have to chase them in order for them to be 'it'. They have to run and hide to get away from you. If you tag them, then they count and you hide, even if the others aren't found. Gracie was the best at it, because even if she found an average hiding place, she wouldn't move or make a sound. Zoe was normally found first because she always giggles, but when we did find her it was hard to keep up because she was so fast."

"So what about you?"

"Me?" Lara smirked. "I know all of the best hiding spots."

"Oh really?" Don grinned back. "Care to test this theory?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Lara replied. "You're it!"

Don stood there stunned for a moment as Lara ran off.

"You have to count to twenty when I'm off Don!" Lara shouted and laughed.

Don smiled as she disappeared into the night and began counting.

Lara jumped above cars and rubbish piles until she made her way to a group of tin barrels. She knew that they were all full of junk except for one. She had filled them ages ago after Ava have found out that she liked to hide in the barrels and all of them echoed of emptiness except for one. Lara was usually in that barrel. She smirked as she opened her tin barrel, hoped in and closed the lid. A small hole was on one side that she used as a peep hole and to let oxygen in.

She waited patiently for her turtle friend find her knowing that he was closer than it seemed.

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Don wandered around the yard and glanced in cars. He scanned the areas he entered profusely, making sure he didn't miss a single thing. He silently made his way through piles in order for Lara to not hear him so she could escape from her hiding spot. He frowned, curious at where the girl could be hiding until he noticed some foot prints in the dirt, heading towards a group of barrels. Smiling, he stalked up to the barrels and pressed a hand on the lid.

"AHA!" He cried as he opened the barrel, but looked down in shock at the junk that was in it.

Looking up he noticed a trail of footprints, leading to each barrel and away. Don looked at the footprints curiously to see how far the trail went. The dirt went further than the footprints, meaning Lara was either hiding in one of the barrels, or she managed to jump to one of the junk piles.

"Smart girl." He murmured and jumped on one of the barrels. Don looked down at the barrels and noticed on with a small hole in it. He smirked, snuck up to the barrel and opened it swiftly again.

"HA!" He yelled triumphantly, but only found disappointment as junk was in the barrel. He looked around at the barrels, and noticed that the one he had stood on had started moving. He watched as it tipped to one side to begin rolling down the hill, laughter coming from the inside of the barrel.

"Hey!" Don shouted as he followed the barrel down the hill. He ran after the barrel as it rolled, somehow making its way to a pile of junk set up like a skate ramp and flying up into the air. Don's eyes followed it in awe as it landed on a pile of junk with Lara jumping out of the barrel and running off. Don laughed and ran after her, using his ninja skills to catch up to her. Eventually, his hand tapped her back lightly.

"Tag!"

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Lara smirked as she walked around the junk yard. She and Don had been playing the game for most of the night, and at two in the morning it was her turn to be it again. She had used almost all of her hiding spots except for one. After searching for Don through most of the junk yard, she had decided that she would try that spot.

Climbing quietly up the largest pile of junk in the yard, she made her way to a gap. A small cave, big enough for five people to stand in, was placed on the side of the pile, not even half way up. She smirked as she entered the dark gap, becoming even darker in the night. She squinted her eyes, unable to see in the crevice when she put a hand in her pocket and pulled out a small torch. Flicking it on, the first thing she saw was the purple mask and green face of Don. Lara almost screamed in fright, but Don grabbed her around the waist and pulled her out of the cave, laughing. Lara did scream and started laughing with him as he dragged her out into the night.

As he carried her, Don slipped on a piece of metal and slipped. He held Lara protectively in his arms as the pair slid down the pile to the dirt below. Although both were getting scratched and injured, they both laughed as they rolled onto the dirt below.

When they reached the bottom, Lara giggled at the green turtle above her. Don chuckled and admired the brunette, who although had dirt and scratches on her face, had a beautiful smile to draw him in. He coughed awkwardly and stood up, pulling her up with him.

"Well that sure was an adventure." Lara laughed.

"Oh yeah," Don agreed. "And I see we have some battle injuries."

Lara laughed as Don rubbed some of the dirt off of her face, checking to see if her scratches weren't infected.

The two were silent for a while before the sound of a kicked piece of metal and evil laughter was heard. The pair looked around before noticing the bodies that formed out of the shadows. Each one was carrying a weapon, ready to fight.

"What do we have here? A girl and her Halloween freak boyfriend I think." One smirked.

Lara blushed lightly. 'If only.' She thought.

"He is not a freak!" Lara growled at them, trying to distract herself from the blush.

"Sure looks like one." Another snickered.

Lara became enraged and charged at them, swiping, kicking, punching and dodging at each that came at her. Don was behind her with his bow staff, doing the same. Most of the goons came down quickly, until there was none left.

"Is this why the junkyard is one of your favourite spots?" Don smirked as he looked down at the damage.

Lara smiled at him. "It is now."

Ignored by Lara and Don's conversation, one of the goons had stood up. His heavy breathing was unheard as the two talked, and he wasn't noticed as the other two were more focused on each other. The goon had managed to sneak up behind Lara and pulled out a sharp knife before Don finally noticed the man.

"Lara, look out!" He cried.

Lara looked at him curiously before the blade became embedded in her back, and through the other side. Don became angered and swiftly used his bow staff to take down the attacker. Even when the man was unconscious, Don continued to swipe and hit him.

"D... Donny?" Lara murmured. Suddenly, his attention was on her.

Lara was sitting on her knees, holding the wound on her side. Blood had flowed from the wound and her side was covered with it. She looked up at Don, her vision becoming blurry and was fading.

"H... Help me." She spoke before she fell forward. Don ran, fell onto his own knees and caught her before she hit the ground. He gulped and pulled some hair away from her face, his own hand already covered in blood. He tore off whatever cloth he could from his own body to make a long and this enough fabric (roughly tied together) to put pressure on Lara's wound. He tied the fabric around her body to keep the pressure on as he ran with her in his arms to the nearest man whole to the sewer.

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Don burst through the door and into his lab quickly. His brothers all barely got a look at him before the door slammed closed. He sat Lara on the bed and looked over her. Trying to get his breathing to calm down, he pulled off the fabric that he had tied on and tugged Lara's top up gently to inspect the damage. He sighed as his fingers rubbed the spot she where she had been injured. Blood stained along his finger tips and he sighed again.

He began to place tubes and machines everywhere and place a drip in her arm. The door to his lab burst open and Leo walked in, Raph close behind.

"What happened?" He demanded to know.

"She took me to the junkyard and we were attacked." Don replied, still organising the tubes. "Can somebody please pass me the emergency kit?"

Leo nodded.

"Donny, what the shell is going on here?" Raph yelled.

"Raph calm down." Leo ordered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you kiddin? The kids got blood all over her, how the shell can I calm down!"

"She's not a kid!" Don shouted.

His brothers looked up at him, shock evident on their face.

Don felt his breath pick up at the woman in front of him. No, she wasn't a child. She may be young, but she was not a child. He cared about Lara. He knew that she liked wrestling. He knew that even though she was normally angry, she cried a bit too. He knew that there was something that she wasn't telling him, but she wanted too. He knew almost everything about her. She was his best friend.

'And she's nearly dead.' He thought. 'It's my fault.'

As Don looked at Lara he began to panic. What if she needs help he can't give? What if she needs blood? What if he screws up and she ends up...

Don clasped his hands onto his head, the blood from his hand spreading onto his scalp. His breathing got heavy and quick, and he felt slightly deranged.

Leo stared at his brother. "Don..."

"What if she dies Leo? What'll I do? What if this is way more than I can handle?" Don asked.

"Don calm down. You've helped each of us before during near deaths. You can help Lara."

"Yes, but she's human! What if she needs blood? We can't give her ours, it may not work! The blood cells could die and then-"

"Donny!" Leo cried and grabbed hold of his brother's shoulders. "Calm down. Having a panic attack in this situation isn't going to help. Yes, she is human, and yes, her blood and anatomy are different to ours. But if you freak out when Lara needs you the most, then she may well die."

Don bit his beak at the thought.

"Just calm down." Leo murmured. "Pretend she's one of us."

Don nodded and swallowed. He turned around nervously to the woman on the table and began to address the wound. As he continued, he lost his hesitation and fell back into doctor mode, addressing the patient with no emotion. Although this time instead of feeling the rough shells of his brothers, he felt the smoothness of Lara's skin.

'Help me.' She had begged. And he'd be shelled if he didn't.

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**If you love me then, THANKYOU! If you hate me, IM SORRY!**

**Yeah you probably all hate me after this one. Especially since I'm leaving it at that. But guys, come on. Like I'm going to kill one of my characters. If I kill Lara, I'll have to kill Don. ... Hmmm...**

**Yeah but no. I don't think I could cope with the hate mail. So, what do you think? Zoe/Raph, or a Ava/Mikey chapter next? I don't know so I need a suggestion. And possible inspiration? :3**

**Love you all! Merry Christmas!... unless you don't celebrate Christmas. I don't know because I don't know what other religions have. That's also because I haven't met anyone with a different religion. I know they exist, and I know there's Hanukah... but I don't know anything about it or anything else. Well, I hope you have a great day tomorrow anyway. And the day after. And the day after that. And the day after that. And a happy New Year.**

**If I missed a day it doesn't exist. XD**

**Byez!**

**~MR **


	25. Chapter 24 Different Beatings

**OK considering the vote was 4:1 this is going to be a Zoe/Raph chapter. I promise the next will be a Ava/Mikey chapter though. :) I have no idea what the plan is with either couples right now so it's all just going to flow. **

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Zoe rubbed her eyes to get the crust out of them. She yawned and stretched her arms before sitting up on the couch. Taking a moment to remember where she was, she wondered where Master Splinter had disappeared to. The last thing she remembered was talking to him as she sat her head on his lap and he gently stroked her hair.

'The comfort of a parent.' Was her last thought before she fell asleep. A grin grew on her face. The turtles were lucky to have a father like that.

Taking in her surroundings, Zoe could see that no one was in the room and decided to look around. The house was silent, so she thought that no one would bother her as she reacquainted herself with the place. She grinned as she wandered the halls, reliving the few memories she had in the home.

'Home.' She thought. The word had become foreign over time. Although her and her sisters had lived in the apartment for quite some time, it barely had the homey feel. She felt as if it was only temporary. At first, her sisters had grown closer together. But now with work getting in the way, the only time they all seemed to spend together was whenever they went out into the club, at which Zoe drank until her sorrows disappeared. Although the slight comfort, Zoe was getting sick of drinking until she had a pounding headache the next morning and couldn't remember what had happened the night before.

Then Zoe stopped and thought.

The girls hadn't spent a night at the club since they had met the turtles. She smiled. They weren't that bad of an influence if they made her forget about alcohol.

Grinning from ear to ear, she raised a hand to enter Don's lab when another hand grabbed her wrist. Looking up at the turtle who was holding her, she felt herself stiffen. She hadn't spent a moment alone with Raph since...

Her throat tightened at the thought.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a straight face. Raph became slightly shocked at her being straight forward, but quickly recovered.

"I wouldn't go in there if I was you." He spoke.

"Well, you're not me. So if you would let go of my hand."

Raph hesitated.

"Please."

Finally complying, Raph let go of Zoe's wrist and she opened the door.

"Thank you." She finished before entering the room. She gently rubbed her wrist before looking up at the table in the lab. She stopped, her breath hitching in her throat.

"L... Lara." She whispered.

Zoe stared as Lara lay on the table, a bandage wrapped around her side. Tubes and wires were coming from all kinds of different places, and she could see blood splatters in places on the floor. On the other side of her was Don, sleeping and holding on tightly to her hand.

"Told you that you shouldn't come in here." A voice whispered behind her. Zoe didn't turn around as her heart broke at the sight of her sister.

"What happened?" Zoe asked, holding back tears.

"When you went missing, everyone went out looking for you. Lars and Don went to the junk yard and where attacked." Raph replied.

"It's my fault." She murmured. Turning around and ignoring Raph, she left the room, her feet leading the way.

"Where you goin?" Raph called out to her, closing the door to the lab behind him.

"Anywhere. To the apartment, the nearest hotel, shell even the park. I can't stand seeing her like that."

"Who?"

"Lara!" Zoe shouted and turned towards him. "It's my fault that she's in there. If we hadn't started that stupid argument."

"What were you fighting about anyway?" Raph asked.

Zoe thought back for a moment before replying.

"It... It was about..." Zoe sighed. "I wanted to prove that I could make it on my own."

Raph stared at her, confused. "Huh?"

Zoe bit her lip. "Being the youngest... the others always feel the need to take care of me. Even if I can do things by myself and go out then come home fine, they all still feel like they need to protect me. Like I'm some sort of china doll or something. So, one time when I say to Lara that I'm considering going to the other side of town by myself, she goes crazy. She starts telling me that it's dangerous and that I shouldn't even consider leaving home to get to some place that I've never been. How I could get lost or mugged."

Zoe frowned and crossed her arms.

"So I ran away. To try and prove that I could make it on my own. And, what do you know, I get lost. So the first thing I did was find the nearest man hole and climb into the sewers. Turns out I can find my way around down here easily than I can up in New York. Then I made my way to your home. Some way to prove your independence huh?"

Zoe stopped to try and hold back tears.

"And now, Lara's in there because of me. It's all my fault. If I hadn't run away, she would still be around. Grumpy at me, but still here."

"Hey." Raph interrupted. Zoe looked up at him.

"Lara's not dead. She is still here. Just not up and walkin yet." Raph frowned. "And I think I have an idea to help you defend yourself so the others don't have to worry so much."

"Like what?" Zoe asked.

Raph smirked. "Follow me."

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"Shell Zoe, that was great!" Raph grinned.

Zoe blushed and smiled up at him. "You think so?"

"Yeah. Keep that up and you'll be able to handle any thug that attacks you in no time. Now do it again."

Zoe nodded before doing some high kicks at a training dummy Raph had brought out into the dojo. After five weeks, Lara had awoken and come back home while Zoe often visited the turtles to train with Raph. Said turtle watched her moves intently to make sure she was hitting the doll just right. Although her hits were a little rough around the edges, she still managed to strike the doll in the spots she was supposed to and put enough power on behind each kick. He grinned at her as the dummy fell to the ground.

"You're getting real good at this." He spoke.

"Thanks." Zoe smiled.

"Now, for yer next lot of training." Raph got into a fighting stance. "Attack me." 

"What?" Zoe cried and shook her head. "No."

"Why not?" Raph asked.

"Because I'm practising for defence. I do not plan on attacking anybody some time soon." Zoe replied.

Raph nodded and smiled. "Ah, I get ya."

He lunged at Zoe unexpectedly and she screamed in surprise. She managed to dodge his attack by getting on all fours as he jumped over her. She managed to spin her leg at his foot, making him fall over. Being a ninja, Raph landed on his hands and jumped back up before Zoe could move. He gently kicked Zoe's side, but accidently hit her harder than expected. Zoe whimpered and clutched the part he hit.

"Oh shell! Zoe I'm sor-" Raph began, but didn't get to finish his sentence before Zoe had hit his legs again, making him fall on top of her. Zoe laughed at Raph's face when he had fallen, not expecting her to attack again.

"Oh that was brilliant!" Zoe giggled. Raph eventually laughed with her before they stopped and stared at each other.

Zoe bit her lip.

"I like you, Raph." She confessed. "I like you... a lot."

Raph stared into her eyes and his heartbeat quickened. Gulping, he shook his head and stood up.

"Raph?"

"Lara." Raph responded.

Zoe looked at the ground and held back tears.

"I know. I know that you like her." She took a deep breath. "But she doesn't like you. Not in that way. Not in the way I do Raph."

Zoe smiled. She knew it was time to confess her feelings.

"Everything about you is exciting and new to me. I mean, you have this hard exterior. Not just the shell but the way you act. You hit bad guys and you protect others without a second thought. You're amazing Raph. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. I know that even though you act tough, you're just a sweet guy with a lot of emotions. One that is loving and caring and-"

"Stop." Raph interrupted. "Just stop right there."

Zoe frowned as Raph held his hands in the air.

"There is no way, that I'm gonna stand here and listen to some stupid girl talk about emotions and crap."

"But... That's what you're like. I can tell, just by looking in your eyes."

"You're a hopeless romantic, that's what I can see."

Zoe tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"Listen here Princess, and listen good." Raph snapped. "Just because I saved your life one time does not mean that I'm gonna go and kick whoever's butt when they hurt you."

Zoe's mouth dropped. "What!"

"You should probably get out of this fairy tale world you're living in. I ain't no prince charming. I don't care if you have a little crush on me, because it's not gonna work out. I don't care if you think that I'm just going to immediately admit that I am exactly what you think I am, because I'm not. I don't care whether you suddenly believe that I actually have feelings because I don't. And I sure as shell, am not gonna turn my entire life around, because one girl admits that they 'like' me. I ain't no wuss."

"Raph," Zoe choked, tears welling in her eyes again. "I didn't-"

"Ah!" Raph spoke again. "I don't wanna hear it."

Raph turned around and headed for the door. Zoe ignored the tears flowing from her eyes, trying to keep a straight face as he went. Anger crawled up inside her as she stared at his retreating back.

"I'm sure glad that we never developed a relationship like I hoped then." Zoe spoke, her voice breaking lightly. "Because I don't think I could ever be with a jerk of a prince like you."

Raph hesitated for a moment and took a small glance at her, before shaking his head and walking off. Zoe stared at the door once he was gone before she wiped off her tears and left. The tiniest bit of hope in her had broken off, as well as the last shard of her heart. 

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**Well, only a small mention of Lara, but at least she's ok. Next will be an Ava/Mikey chapter I think. **

**Naw Zoe. :( She tries her hardest to get Raph to like her and then he screws everything up. I don't think he really wants a serious relationship though now that I think about it.**

**It's all going to work itself out in the end though! Don't worry petals! **

**Love yas! (Although you probably all hate me right now...)**

**~MR**


	26. Chapter 25 Knight in Shining Shell

Ava hesitantly hovered her hand over the door, before knocking.

"COME IN!" A cheerful voice rang out and Ava sighed.

She opened the door quietly. Zoe stared up at her with a smile, before it dropped.

"Oh come on Ava! If I have to tell you one more thing about-"

"But I need help!" Ava interrupted.

Zoe paused. "Honestly I didn't think that I would hear you say that. Ever."

Ava gave her sister a small smile and nodded. "I know. Especially to you."

Zoe giggled and shook her head. "So, what now?"

"Well... I was hoping to-"

Zoe held up her hand. "Say no more. I'll arrange everything."

Ava frowned. "But I-"

"Na-bu-ah-uh!" Zoe interrupted. "Nope. I will have everything under control. Just..."

The blonde waved her hands in the air casually.

"Look nice. But don't wear a dress."

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Ava was nervously staring at her sister. After a long time of searching through her clothes, Zoe had entered to help. Finally, she found a pair of light grey jeans and a V-neck top that suited for the plan. What Zoe was planning, Ava did not know.

What she did know however, were three things.

It involved Mikey and herself.

It was going to happen at night so that the turtle would not be spotted.

It was going to involve helmets.

The last thing she knew frightened her a little. In Ava's hands, Zoe had placed a pink helmet with black stripes. Ava gulped.

"Zoe..." She whined.

"Oh calm down. You're supposed to be the oldest, remember?" Zoe retorted, a playful smirk evident on her lips.

Ava bit her own lip and looked down at the helmet again. Fear crept into her stomach at old memories involving helmets and gravel rashes.

"Zoe!" Ava cried. Zoe giggled in response and held out a finger to tell her to shush. She called up a number she knew off by heart and waited.

"Hello." A rough voice spoke. Zoe gulped and shook her head.

"Can you put Mikey on?" She demanded. Ava watched her sister's actions curiously, until finally Zoe smiled.

"Hiya Mikey! You won't believe what I found out!" Zoe spoke.

Ava's look changed to one of slight worry as he sister continued.

"Ava can't skateboard!"

"Zoe, don't you dare!" Ava whispered harshly to her sister. Zoe just giggled and hushed her.

"Yeah! So I was thinking that you and I could teach her!"

Ava's face paled.

"So I'll see you in ten minutes?" Zoe grinned. "Awesome! See you then!"

She hung up the phone and giggled again.

"Zoe what did you get me into?" Ava asked.

"Oh, don't worry. I have to go to work a nightshift tonight to clean up anyway. It'll be only you and Mikey."

"And who's going to make sure Lara doesn't pop her stitches?"

"Gracie's here. She normally makes sure that no one blows a gasket."

Zoe took a quick glance at her watch and ran off to her room. "I'll get changed. You just sit back and put the helmet on." 

"I don't even own a skateboard!" Ava shouted as she left.

"Use mine, duh!" Zoe retorted, followed by another giggle.

Ava took a quick glance at the wheeled object in the corner of the lounge and sucked in a breath. Grabbing the board, memories of her childhood flowed through her head. Her parents were trying to teach all of the girls to skateboard, rollerblade or ride a bike. Unfortunately though, Ava seemed to be the worst at even getting on or in each contraption. So, when they moved, she asked her parents to take her to taekwondo to help practise her balance. Although this worked, she never bothered to get on a skateboard ever since.

She shook her head then sat down on the couch silently freaking out. Deep in thought, she didn't notice that Mikey had appeared until he knocked on the window beside her. Ava jumped and landed on the floor with a light thud. A blush grew on her face as Mikey chuckled at her. She hesitantly stood up and opened the door to the patio, letting Mikey in.

"Ready to go?" He asked. Ava shyly nodded, not feeling like herself at all. "Where's Zo?"

"Mikey!" Zoe cried as she came out of the hallway. "Thank goodness you're here! I just got a call from work that said I needed to work a nightshift."

"But... um... don't you work as a checkout girl?"

"Yeah, but someone has to clean the floors once everyone's gone." Zoe replied, shrugging.

"So wouldn't it be better doing this another night?" Mikey asked.

"Are you kidding? When are we ever going to get a chance like this again!"

Mikey frowned. "Chances like what?"

Zoe's eyes bulged.

"A clear night." Ava recovered. "The weather is nice out and there don't seem to be many clouds. Right Zo?"

Zoe nodded. "Yeah. Sucks that I'm gonna miss out huh? Wellgottagobye!" she finished quickly and ran out of the apartment.

Mikey watched the door slam closed in confusion. "What was that about?"

"I honestly don't know." Ava sighed and looked down at the helmet in her hands.

"Ok. If you're ready to go, then let's go." Mikey shrugged as he walked out onto the patio. "I know a great place to practise."

"Mmhmm." Ava hummed nervously as she followed behind him.

He looked back at her. "You ok, Av?"

"Oh yeah." Ava replied. "Im just... a little scared."

"Ava? Scared? Ok, so who are you and what have you done with my friend's sister?"

'Is that what I am to him?' Ava thought, but quickly laughed to recover. 'I'm thinking into it too much.'

"I haven't been on anything with wheals for a long time." She smiled.

"So you haven't taken a bus or a cab? What have you been doing, walking everywhere."

Ava laughed again and playfully shoved the turtle. "Come on. Let's just go. Show me this 'great place to practise', oh Skateboarding Sensei."

Mikey chuckled, took her board and turned his back to her.

"Hop on." He spoke. Ava climbed onto his back. Getting into a comfortable position, she put the helmet on her head and reached around Mikey's neck.

"You know, I won't be that rough." Mikey laughed, referring to the helmet.

"I just don't want it flailing everywhere." Ava replied. "Besides, I know that your normally gentle with me."

Mikey gulped then coughed lightly. Ava backtracked on what she said before a blush crept up her face.

"I mean... you know. You take care of me. Like when I was sick."

"Yeah, I got what you mean." Mikey spoke. Ava felt herself being shocked.

Mikey's voice seemed as if he were putting up a mask, something different to what she was used to. He was normally so straightforward and happy that for him to suddenly turn cold was off-putting. Ava felt a stone of guilt grow in her stomach. She knew that she was the reason why he was different around her. She knew it was all her fault. She had made his heart break.

And she'll be damned if she isn't the one to fix it.

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Mikey took Ava to a skate park on a quiet side of the city where no one would disturb them. High fences surrounded the park so that no one could sneak to the cement skate ramps under the cover of night to graffiti them. Mikey was sure to be quiet as he snuck in, but once he and Ava were in the centre of the park, he let her go with a wide grin.

"So!" He spoke. "Let's start!"

He sat down the skate board in between himself and Ava, then looked up at her. Ava was biting her lip as she stared down at her sister's board.

"I don't know if I can do this." She murmured. Mikey gently held her shoulders.

"Hey." He replied. "Don't worry. I've got you."

Ava looked up at the turtle's eyes and felt herself drowning deeper into them. His eyes would get her to do anything.

Ava nodded as Mikey's hands moved down into her own.

"Ok now." He said. "Just put one foot onto the board."

Ava hesitantly lifted her foot before placing it onto the wood. She released a breath before sucking in another.

"Now the other one." Mikey continued.

Ava did as she was told and let go of another breath. Mikey pulled her along on the board with their connected hands. Ava's body jerked at the strange movement and she felt herself swaying slightly, but knew she was safe. Mikey wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't even hurt a fly unless it was threatening his family.

"Now, see if you can gently push yourself along with your back foot." He assured once Ava had gotten comfortable on the board. She nodded. The board slowed down a bit so she could put her foot on the ground, before shoving it off quickly. Mikey walked a little quicker to keep up with this, and soon Ava was laughing and giggling as she went faster and faster. Mikey let his hands eventually slip out of hers unnoticed. Ava continued to go faster and faster until she realised that up ahead of her, hidden in the dark, was a lone pole.

Suddenly, her mind took her from the dark of night to a bright day. She was going down the path on a skateboard in front of her house. Aiming to go as fast as Zoe had the day before, she zoomed down the cement way. Realising she couldn't stop or turn, she had crashed into the side of a tree.

Ava returned to reality and saw that she had gotten closer to the post.

"MIKEY!" She screamed as fear crawled inside her. "MIKEY, HELP ME!"

Tears brewed in her eyes, and even though she knew that there was a slim chance of death, she did not want pain.

"MIKEY, PLEASE!" She called out in another desperate attempt. Her accident as a child flashed before her eyes again.

"MUMMY!"

Arms wrapped themselves around her waist and a body crashed into hers, saving her from the catastrophe in waiting. Her saviour's body twisted itself to stop her from being crushed and incredibly injured in the fall. Although when she fell onto the ground and she knew she would most likely have grazes up her arms, she was glad she avoided the pole.

Gripping on tightly to her hero, she cried. The fear in her was still great and she felt as if crying was the only way how to get rid of it. Her rescuer gently rubbed their hand down her hair to try and calm her down, also whispering soothing words into her ear. Eventually, she settled down and looked up. Although the face staring back at her was green with and orange turtle mask, Ava couldn't help but feel that Mikey was her knight in shining armour.

"Are you ok, Ava?" Mikey asked. A thought popped up in Ava's head, and she bit her lip, wondering if she should go through with it.

"Aves? Please tell me, are you ok?"

This was enough to make Ava's decision. Holding a breath, Ava dug deep for courage and gently kissed the side of Mikey's lips. The pair blushed at the action and Ava dug her head in to Mikey's shoulder.

"Of course I am, Mikey." Ava murmured. "You're my hero. Thank you."

Mikey blushed deeper at the comment and gulped.

"No... No problem." He replied.

Ava smiled and snuggled in closer to Mikey. The couple lay on the ground for a while, before Mikey shuffled a bit to get comfortable. Once Ava believed that Mikey was in a bit of pain, she gently got up and pulled him with her.

He smiled at her, grabbed the skateboard that had fallen on its side from hitting the pole, and then took Ava home.

Once Ava and Mikey reached the patio, Ava let Mikey inside.

"Thank you again for saving me tonight." Ava murmured. It was early in the morning, and she didn't want to disturb any of her sisters that were asleep.

"Not a problem." Mikey grinned.

Ava smiled at him then held his hand. He grabbed her other one and the pair stayed like that in the living room for a while.

"I suppose I have to be heading home." Mikey sighed.

"Do you have to?" Ava asked hopefully.

Mickey chuckled.

"I'll be back."

He stared into her eyes for a while before sighing.

"Aves-"

"Don't." Ava interrupted. Mikey looked at her curiously. "Just... Don't speak."

Mikey got the hint and kept his mouth closed. Ava leant in closer to him, than closed her eyes. Mikey did the same. They were so close...

An awkward cough gave off the notion that someone else was in the room. Ava and Mikey snapped back, faces red and stared at the intruder. Lara bit the inside of her cheek and looked around the room.

"I just... came out to get a glass of water." She spoke. Ava and Mikey continued to stare at her.

"Uh... Hi Mikey." Lara continued, reminding them that Mikey should have gone home.

"Oh... uh... Hi. Um... I suppose I should be going now." Mikey stuttered. Ava gulped and nodded. "Well... bye."

"Goodbye Mikey. We should... go out again sometime." Ava replied uneasily.

"Yeah." At this, Mikey smiled. "Definitely."

Mikey turned to leave and waved Lara goodbye.

"Goodnight Mikey." Lara spoke.

"Night Lara." Mikey replied before he walked out of the patio door and closed it behind him.

Ava sighed and placed a hand on her head, then glared at Lara.

"What?" Lara smiled, feigning innocence. "I just had a tickle in my throat."

Ava groaned before giving her sister a slight smile.

"Goodnight Lars." She spoke before heading down the hallway to her room.

"Night Aves." Lara grinned as she walked off. Lara shook her head when her sister's door closed behind her and made her way to the kitchen, happy that her sister had a great night.

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**Oh goodness, I'm such a teaser. XD Anwhoo, yay! Finally got it done! :) Well that was a cute chapter. I'm definitely happy with that. **

**I think I may have a Gracie/Leo chapter next. I mean, seriously. When was the last time I wrote about those two, hmm? **

**Also it seems that everyone's relationship has been going well. Uh... except for Zoe's. But I've got something big planned for her. Raph's gonna regret not giving her a chance when he should have. :)**

**Lol.**

**Byes!**

**~ MR**


	27. Chapter 26 Trouble in Paradise

Gracie smiled as she waited on the patio. It was a Thursday. One of the three days a week that Gracie and Leo had agreed to meet. Some days, Leo had arrived late, but Gracie didn't mind. She always forgave him. After all, what are girlfriends for, right?

Gracie fondled the necklace Leo gave her between her fingers. She never took it off, no matter what. Even at night. Somehow, whenever a nightmare made their way into her head, the necklace would be felt in her dreams and Leo came to save her. Although, lately her nightmares have been arriving more frequently. She dreamt of her and her sisters being attacked, and there were no turtles to rescue them again.

She snapped out of her thoughts when her phone buzzed beside her. It was her alarm, stating that it was 11:30 and she should be heading home by now.

'No.' She thought. 'I should have left by now.'

She sighed when worry began to crawl inside her.

What if Leo was hurt? No, his brothers would have called. What if he had been captured or something and his brothers didn't know so they couldn't tell her? But how would that happen? Then a cold feeling overcame her.

What if it had been a joke? What if Leo was like the rest of those guys in high school? What if he was actually still at home, laughing with his brothers, at how gullible she was to believe that he would ever go out with someone like her?

Gracie's heart hurt and she felt tears begin to enter her eyes. She wiped them away and stood up, heading for the door back inside.

Then the sound of something dropping was heard behind her.

"I'm not too late, am I?" A desperate voice spoke. Gracie gasped and turned.

"Leo!" She cried as she ran into his arms.

He smiled when she was trapped in his warm embrace.

"Leo, I was so worried." Gracie spoke into his neck.

"Why?" Leo chuckled. "You knew that I would come, right?"

Gracie smiled and regretted her selfish thoughts. He had a family too and night patrol. He was probably just caught up with something.

"Right." She spoke and pulled back. "So, where are we going tonight?"

Leo smiled and turned around. Gracie climbed onto his back and he ran to the edge of the patio and jumped. Gracie closed her eyes and sighed happily as the wind brushed through her hair.

When Leo stopped and Gracie opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that they were at the park. The lights that followed the pathway through it made the darkness of the night seem almost magical. Fairy lights were also strung between each lantern, making the park seem even more enchanting.

She grinned wildly as she turned to Leo.

"It's amazing!" She confessed. Leo smiled back at her and nodded to a gazebo with its own fairy lights strung around the beams. Gracie took Leo's hand as the couple walked up to it. When they arrived, Leo pressed play on a stereo and they danced slowly in each other's arms.

"You look different tonight Gracie." Leo spoke.

"Its... just the make-up. And Zoe wanted to help with my hair." Gracie replied and bit her lip. "Don't you like it?"

Leo shook his head. "No. You look beautiful every night. It's just tonight you look different."

Gracie blushed and Leo spun her around.

"I'm sorry I was late by the way." Leo sighed. "Raph and I were having an argument. He thinks I'm spending too much time with you."

"Oh?" Gracie frowned. "And what do you think?"

"I think I should spend more time with you."

Gracie laughed at this and Leo turned her in his arms so her back was on his plastron. Gracie smiled as she settled down.

"Everything feels so right with you." She confessed. "Like... there's nothing to be afraid of. I feel safe with you."

Leo frowned and turned Gracie towards him.

"Gracie... I won't be there all the time." He replied.

Gracie gave him a gentle smile. "But I feel you protecting me. The necklace you gave me, I can feel it on me when I'm in my dreams. You protect me even in my nightmares."

"But I can't protect you 24/7."

"I know that Leo. It's ok. We have to give each other space. We can't be together all of the time."

"Honestly sometimes I wonder why you're even with a freak like me."

"Leo, what are you talking-"

"You're a human Gracie. You can go walking around all day without a care in the world. You don't have to worry about people trying to hunt you down and dissect you, or try to destroy you."

"Come on, Leo. I've been through stuff that already." Gracie gave out a nervous laugh.

"In fact, why are you even with me?"

At this, Gracie frowned and took a step back. "Excuse me?"

Leo turned his back on her and continued.

"Shouldn't you be with another human? Half the time I'm actually wondering if you're really interested in me, or if you're just toying with the mutant. Pretending to be with me when really you're with your sisters, laughing at me behind my back."

Gracie stared at him.

"Take me home."

Leo looked up at her. "What?"

"I want to go back to the apartment. Now."

Leo glanced at the ground and nodded. Gracie climbed onto his back and this time, kept her eyes opened as they jumped back to the patio. She slid off his back and headed for the door, without a word.

"Gracie..."

Gracie's head snapped towards him and tears began to brew in her eyes.

"Did you know that I thought the exact same thing before you came tonight?" She snapped.

Leo's face became shocked.

"No. Of course you didn't."

"Gracie, why would you even-"

"High school. Boys pulled that kind of joke on me all the time. Ask me out on a date and leave me waiting for them that night. It was humiliating! For a little while I actually began to believe you were like them!"

Leo put his hands up in surrender. "Ok Gracie. I'm sorry."

"I have half a mind not to throw this thing in the trash!" She yelled at him and clutched her necklace in her fingers.

"Oh shell Gracie, please don't do that!" Leo cried.

The tears began to fall down Gracie's face and Leo swept her up in his arms.

"I'm sorry Gracie." He murmured into her hair. "I... Raph just... got into my head about all this, you know? He was telling me that there was no way a girl like you would go out with a freak like me. With a mutant."

Gracie pulled back a bit and rubbed her eyes.

"B-but you're not a freak." She hiccupped. "You're Leo. The best guy there is out there, mutant or not."

Leo smiled at her and helped wipe away her tears.

"You're my first boyfriend, Leo."

Leo felt shock come through him the second time that night.

"I... I'm your boyfriend?" He murmured. Gracie looked up at him and nodded.

A wide grin grew on Leo's face and he picked Gracie up in his arms. He spun around three times, laughing. Gracie giggled too as she was set down.

"I'm your boyfriend." Leo stated, still smiling. "You're... my girlfriend."

Gracie blushed. "I guess so."

Leo laughed again and picked Gracie up before running to the side of the patio. He put her down beside her and leant forward on the railing.

"I'M GRACIE'S BOYFRIEND!" He shouted out to the roof tops. Dogs began to bark as his voice echoed around the night. Car alarms went off and people began to yell.

Leo turned to Gracie, his smile bringing out the happiness within. Gracie beamed too before looking out to the city.

"AND I'M LEO'S GIRLFRIEND!" She yelled. Some birds began to fly off as the sounds of the night continued.

Leo gave Gracie a cuddle as the noise began to die down again, his grin not leaving his lips. Gracie yawned.

"I suppose it's time I go to bed." She spoke glumly.

At this Leo did frown. "Do you have to?"

Gracie giggled and turned in his arms. "Yes I do, my turtle boyfriend."

Leo smiled again at her and nodded. "All right then."

Leaning forward, Gracie gave Leo a kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight Leo."

Leo blushed at her actions. "G-Goodnight Gracie."

Gracie looked into his eyes before walking off and closing the balcony door behind her.

Leo watched the door for a few minutes before sighing in happiness.

It didn't matter what Raph believed. Gracie was the sweetest human to ever walk into Leo's life, and she was the only girl who would ever hold his heart in her hands.

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**I literally sat down and made myself write this. I wanted Leo and Gracie to have a fight but I had no idea how to (I even asked for help. Thanks MissKingLawliet :) ). Managed to do it! **

**Sorry it took so long by the way. Like I said I knew what I wanted but had no idea how to work it. Also, because I'm in my last year of high school, I feel as though I have no time to myself at all and any free time I do have is doing homework! I am writing this at 1:16 am and I am tired as buggery! (I'm Australian, not British. Or any other country that says 'bugger' that isn't Australia.)**

**ANYWAY! I have sort of an idea for the next chapter, so hopefully it should be up by the end of next month. :)**

**Quick question though, which songs do you think should go with each couple? (I mean with the relationship they each have now.)**

**Here's a quick re-cap of each relationship.**

**GraciexLeo – Loving and romantic.**

**AvaxMikey – They love one another, but won't tell.**

**LaraxDon – One-sided (Its freaking killing me)**

**ZoexRaph – Distant and aggressive (It's kind of hard to describe. Raph's aggressive towards Zoe, now Zoe doesn't even want to talk to him.)**

**Thankyou!**

**~ MR **

**(And now, a poem I just made. XD)**

**Sing a song of turtles,**

**A real ninja surprise.**

**24 purple dragons**

**Baked in one of Mikey's pies.**

**When Leo cut it open, **

**Don began to grin.**

**Wasn't that a funny dish **

**To give poor Raphikins!**

**Gracie was in her bedroom**

**Trying to find her money.**

**Ava was with Splinter,**

**Drinking tea with honey.**

**Zoe was being sneaky**

**Grabbing water from a hose**

**When a long came Lara**

**Who punched her in the nose!**

**(lol. Love yas!)**


	28. Chapter 27 Sing Me A Song

Sing Me A Song

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_(Over and Over)_

Zoe sighed as she walked around the turtle's home. She didn't want to be here, but wanted stay at home instead. She leaned against the wall and stared at the floor, but then saw some movement and looked up to see Raph walk into a room.

Zoe bit her lip and walked to the door he entered. She stood by there and watched as Raph began to train on his punching bag. Her heart quickened as he hit the bag, and she remembered back to when he had saved her.

Her memory then strayed back to their fight.

'Why does this happen?' She wondered. 'Over, and over, and over again he does something that just makes me...'

She sighed. 'I keep falling for him. I try not to, but it keeps happening.'

She paused her train of thought. And shook her head. Why shouldn't she keep falling for him? She looked up at the turtle as he continued his training.

He had defended her. He was her hero.

"_Get out of this little fairy tale world you're living in."_

Zoe shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, then continued to watch Raph in silence.

He was her saviour.

"_Just because I saved your life one time does not mean that I'm gonna go and kick whoever's butt when they hurt you."_

Zoe shook her head again and wiped away her tears. He was her prince charming.

"_I ain't no prince charming."_

Zoe felt the tears re-enter her eyes and a growl rise up in her throat.

"I don't to wait for a prince to come to my rescue. _I know what's best for me_." She murmured as she turned away from the door and walked away.

She didn't stop, heading whatever way she wanted.

"_But I want you instead..."_

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(_I won't say I'm in love)_

Ava couldn't help but giggle as Mikey spoke. The pair had been sitting on the couch talking when Mikey began to tell a story of when they thought the lair was haunted.

"And so I was like, 'Dude, I didn't even put any spices in there!' and then when we turn and look at the spice rack, everything is tipped over!"

Ava smiled and choked back on a laugh. She turned her head to see Gracie heading towards them with a knowing smirk. She raised a hand over one side of her lips so Mikey couldn't see them.

Gracie smirked as she mouthed out the words 'Are you together yet?'

Ava sent her a confused glance. Gracie rolled her eyes.

'You like him!' She mouthed.

Ava rolled her eyes and covered a side of her mouth. 'I do not!' She mouthed back.

Gracie only smirked and shook her head, seeing right through her lie as she walked passed.

Ava sighed and turned back to Mikey as he continued his story, unaffected by the girls 'conversation'.

"So we got to the truck, and seriously, everything was all over the place! It was like someone came in with some sort of mini-tornado blaster thing or something!"

Ava nodded, listening intently to Mikey's story. Lara had begun to head out of Don's lab when she saw them. Seeing the couple on the couch, she couldn't help but grin.

Ava glanced up at her sister, worried about her when she noticed the smile.

'What are you smiling about?' She mouthed to her.

Lara smirked wider. She moved her lips without sound, but Ava understood her perfectly.

'Mikey and Ava, sitting in a tree.'

Ava froze.

'K-I-S-S-I-N-G'

Ava glared at her sister, until Lara got the hint and walked away. Ava held in a sigh as she turned back to Mikey, who was still telling his story as if nothing happened.

"And then all of a sudden, 'WHOOSH!'"

Ava let out a chuckle as his arms swung around and hit one of the lamps behind him.

"Oh shell." Mikey murmured. He leaned down over the side of the couch to try and retrieve the lamp, and Ava couldn't help but giggle at him. Zoe noticed this and smirked.

"Hey Ava!" she called out. Ava's head snapped up to look at her as Mikey continued to try and grab the lamp.

Without Mikey looking, Zoe began to pucker her lips and kiss the air. She made noises like 'Mwah, Mwah' and such to help emphasize her point. At this point, Ava couldn't help but growl. Zoe flinched jokingly before turning and walking away.

Ava shook her head at her sister's antics and giggled again as Mikey pulled himself and the lamp back up.

"Got it!" he smiled in succsess before pausing. "Where was I?"

"I believe you were at, 'Whoosh'." Ava answered.

"Oh yeah! Anyway, 'WHOOSH!', a ladder came flying down from the top rail. We all looked up, and there was Klunk, meowing away and looking innocent like he did nothing wrong. I jumped up to get him and noticed that he smelt like chilli and was covered in oil." Mikey laughed. "Turns out he was the one causing trouble."

Ava turned her head to the side, an act that Mikey found cute. "Klunk?"

"Oh! Right! I'll just get him!" Mikey turned and ran to what Ava assumed was his room. She grinned as he left and sighed happily. Suddenly, she was surrounded by three girls and questions.

"So have you asked him?"

"Have you kissed him?"

"Has he confessed to you yet?"

"What about compliments? Has he given you any?"

"Has he at least kissed your cheek?"

"What about date plans?"

"Can we help with those!"

"Should we go shopping for a dress?"

"GUYS!" Ava shouted over top of them. They all became silent. "What are you talking about?"

The girls all smiled and looked at each other. "You love him!"

Ava's mouth opened like a goldfish. "I do not! What an inappropriate thing to say! We're just friends, ok? And even if I did like him, why would I confess to you guys about-"

"Ok, ok!" Zoe interrupted. "So don't be proud."

"Yeah, its ok Ave." Lara agreed.

Gracie smirked at her. "You're in love. You don't have to shout it out to the world."

"Yeah, like you and Leo did." Zoe murmured.

"I'm back!" Mikey shouted, and her sisters disappeared as quickly as they came. Mikey smiled as he sat down on the couch. In his arms laid an orange tabby cat.

"This is Klunk." He spoke, referring to the cat that looked to be half asleep. "Wanna hold him?"

Ava couldn't help but smile and nod. Mikey passed her the cat and she held it carefully in her arms. Ava smiled as it gave out a slight yawn before getting comfortable. Klunk's soft fur and warm belly showed that the cat was well groomed and fed. Obviously, he was happy, and he was loved.

"Oh shell! I forgot I had to clean the litter box! I'll be back when I am, Ave." Mikey spoke as he left. Ava nodded and watched Mikey retreat back into a room. She couldn't help but smile and she turned back to the cat in her arms.

"Can you keep a secret, Klunk?" she murmured and moved her face close to Klunk's. Klunk's eyes opened to look into hers, almost as if knowing she was going to say something very important.

"I think... I'm in love with Mikey." She murmured. The cat meowed at her, rubbed his head against her chin and began to purr loudly. She giggled at him before sitting him on her lap and patting him.

"But remember Klunk, it's our secret. No telling anybody." Ava ordered. Klunk looked up at her for a moment, then curled into a ball and fell asleep on her lap. She grinned.

"_At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love_." She sighed as she rubbed his back and got comfortable. She was content with Mikey being her friend for now, and did not want anything to ruin it.

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_(Teardrops on My Guitar)_

Lara sat at the dining table, drinking a hot chocolate when Don came out of his lab. Lara watched him quizzically as he muttered something about gears and the right components. The girls had been there since the morning and now it was late afternoon. All that time none of them had seen the purple masked turtle.

Don walked passed Lara and headed straight to the kitchen to turn on the kettle and get his coffee ready. He continued his mutterings before he would stop, place a finger on his lip in thought, and then start up again. Lara sighed and stood up as he did this. She came up behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Donny." She spoke. He turned towards her.

"Oh, hey Lara. When did you guys get here?"

"This morning." Lara replied. "What are you doing?"

"I'm upgrading the hydraulics mechanism on the server's system that I have so that it will go faster and..."

Don looked at Lara a little longer and the poor girl nearly felt herself blush. He smiled at her.

"You don't understand what I'm talking about when I tell you this, do you?"

Lara nodded shyly and smiled back at him. He shook her head and took her hand.

"I'm fixing the computer." He laughed.

"Oh!" Lara spoke and then giggled. "That's much easier to understand."

"Yeah. Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

Lara couldn't help but laugh at his words as they entered his lab.

"See, I've noticed it's been going a little slow lately, so I've been trying to update it so it'll go faster." Don said as he sat down at his desk and typed on the keyboard.

Lara smiled and nodded. She leaned forward onto him and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind him as she watched. She thought he either didn't notice or didn't mind, but she was watching the screen. Lara had not noticed Don hesitate for a moment before he continued typing.

"Oh!" Don cried and stopped typing. "I forgot my coffee!"

"I'll get it." Lara offered and let him go.

"No, please. I can get it myself. Thinking about it I didn't even actually make it. I'd probably have to reheat the water."

He let out a nervous chuckle as he stood up.

"I'll be right back." He called out behind him as he left.

Lara smiled and sat down in his chair. Her heart thumped happily in her chest and for a moment she felt warm. Wrapping her arms around herself she turned back to the screen, feeling content with just holding Don for that one moment.

But deep inside she felt that he would never feel the way she felt about him. That he still cared deeply for Gracie. Lara sighed at the thought and wrapped her arms tighter around herself for some comfort. A tear fell down her face and landed down on a silver guitar that was on a necklace. She quickly wiped it away when she heard his footsteps heading to the room.

'It's ok Lara.' She thought to herself. 'Just _fake a smile so he won't see__._'

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(_Angel of Mine/Guardian Angel)_

Gracie had picked up the mug that Lara had left behind and headed into the kitchen. She turned on the tap to hot. She grabbed some detergent, poured some in the water and watched as it turned into bubbles. Smiling, she picked some up blew, watching the small, rainbow fill orbs float through the air. She couldn't help but giggle as some landed on her hands again, sat for a while, then popped. Gracie finally turned the tap off when she had enough water, then put the mug and other dirty culinary items in the sink.

As she washed them, she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and a head lean on her shoulder.

"Whatcha doing?" Leo asked.

"Washing your dishes." Gracie chuckled.

Leo frowned. "You don't have to."

"Yes, but I want to." Gracie smiled. "And _you're right on time_ to dry."

Leo pursed his lips before grabbing a tea towel. "Mikey should be doing this."

"And aren't you supposed to be cooking for dinner everyone tonight?"

At this Leo flinched. "Don't ask."

Gracie laughed at him, before leaning up to kiss his cheek when he wasn't paying attention. He stopped, shocked for a moment, and then looked back to his work with a blush. Gracie giggled again before washing again.

"So how was the training?" Gracie asked.

Leo shrugged. "Wasn't too bad. But we still need to improve."

"You always say that you need to improve. You are strong enough, really."

Leo smiled, then quickly kissed Gracie's cheek. Gracie froze as blush grew on her own cheeks.

"Well,_now that I'm strong_Ican protect you_."_ Leo murmured.

Gracie turned to him. "You don't have to."

Leo wrapped his arms around her again. "I will. _Even if it sends me to heaven__._"

Gracie pulled back and put a finger on his mouth.

"Don't say that." She whispered. "Please, _angel of mine__."_

Tears began to brew in her eyes at the thought of losing Leo.

"Sh." He hushed and kissed her forehead. "_It's okay. It's okay__."_

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**Basically I thought that the last two songs complimented each other. :) Gracie is speaking from the lyrics 'Angel of Mine' by Monica, and Leo is speaking from the lyrics 'Guardian Angel' from Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. **

**Zoe had 'Over and Over' by Three Days Grace, Ava had 'I Won't Say I'm In Love' by Cheetah girls (although there is also one from the Disney movie '****Hercules'****, which I adore), and Lara had 'Teardrops on My Guitar'. **

**I honestly tried to have more songs than one for each couple, but after a while I realised that what I was writing either had no connection to the song, or it just go too hard. Even if I thought 'That song is perfect!'. It was just a problem to write so sorry to those who suggested a song and didn't get it in. I had so much trouble writing Lara's, it's not funny. I had written one, didn't like it, tried again, didn't like it, and then thought of the perfect thing to write to make it interesting, then forgot. In fact it would have been out earlier if it wasn't for that. :/**

**Anyway, JUST got it out before the month finished. :) Even though it does feel like one heck of a boring filler. Nyeh, the next one's going to be interesting. Believe me, I feel like this story needs it. It's getting a bit too dull for me. **

**Hopefully the next one will be ready on my birthday. I won't tell you when that is, otherwise I may have some of you guys wondering where the next chapter is. Lol. **

**Ok, any Q's for A's only have to be asked.**

**Bye! **

**~MR**


	29. Chapter 28 When The Shell Hits The Fan

**Just putting this out quickly, but Don doesn't know about Leo and Gracie. Just letting you know. Also this beginning bit was supposed to go out later, but if I put it out when I planned to it wouldn't work. :) Enjoy!**

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The turtles and Master Splinter all sat around a table, eating the remains of a pizza.

Splinter watched his sons carefully as they ate, each of their minds seemingly elsewhere.

"So, boys." He said casually. "Do you have any news to tell me?"

Each of them shook their heads.

"Not even about the girls?" Splinter asked, sipping some tea. They all froze in response, but still shook their heads.

Splinter hummed.

"I'm sure that they would all be very good daughters." He smirked lightly. "And then have beautiful grandchildren."

If each turtle were drinking, they would have spat out their drinks. The turtles all turned a light shade of pink as their father moved his eyes to them.

"Well?" He grinned.

"She is beautiful." Mikey murmured. "But Ava doesn't like me."

"Lara's acting like she's got a stick jammed up her shell." Raph growled. "And it feels like Zoe is stalking me."

"Gracie is apparently better off without me." Don sighed.

Splinter rose an eyebrow to all of his sons, before looking at Leo.

"Well?"

Leo gave his master a small smile and shrugged. It was a moment before he spoke.

"Well Zoe definitely likes Raph."

"Hey!" Raph shouted. "You shuddup there Fearless, or I'ma kick the shell out of you!"

Leo just smirked and excused himself to put the dishes away.

"What is this?" Splinter smiled.

"Oh, nothing." Don grinned. "Just Zoe proclaiming her everlasting love for Raph."

"She ain't 'proclaiming' anythin!" Raph snapped.

"Well she couldn't have made it any clearer Raph. She said it to your face!" Mikey retorted.

Raph growled and sat slouched in his seat. The table was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.

"Lara is so annoying." He murmured.

"I know." Don agreed. "She told me the oddest poem a while ago."

"It's the 'Sticks and shells' one right?" Raph asked him. Don nodded.

"Sticks and what now?" Mikey murmured as Leo re-entered the room.

"Lara's poem." Raph spoke up. "It's something about sticks and shells."

"Sticks and shells will break my heart, for he will never love me." Don recited.

"Yeah, that's the one." Raph nodded. "Wonder who she's talking about."

Leo smirked. "That's easy."

"Yeah." Mikey spoke. "Even I got that one."

"One of the simplest forms." Splinter smiled.

The other two turtles looked at their family.

"What do you mean?" Raph asked.

Leo smiled as he left the room again.

"I think I may go and meditate." Splinter spoke and left.

Mikey just smirked and shook his head as he went to play on his game station.

"Sticks and shells, Donny." He spoke as he left. "Sticks and shells."

The remaining turtles looked at each other before shrugging and heading their separate ways.

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The next day, Zoe couldn't help but stare at her sisters in jealousy. Mikey had Ava in tears from laughter as he whispered jokes into her ear. He seemed to hang out more with Ava lately than her, but she didn't mind. Zoe knew there was something going on with them she could never get in between of, even if she wanted to.

Next to them sat Lara and Don, both in depth in their own conversation. Don must have been explaining something he made or how something worked, because even though Lara seemed to be listening with her constant nods and repeated 'Yeps' of enthusiasm, she had a look of confusion written plainly on her face.

Zoe was extremely jealous of her two sisters as they talked to the turtles that they were fond of. But mostly, she was jealous of Gracie and Leo. They had sat next to each other, each reading either a newspaper or a book, staying quite and drinking tea. They were still worried about Don's feelings, so still did not openly touch each other while he was around. Yet Zoe could tell that they held hands under the table they sat at, and that was all they needed to do for now.

Raph had still not talked to Zoe for days. He seemed to ignore her presence as he walked passed her and no longer notices her existence. Zoe had become nothing but a speck of dust to him –insignificant, and unnoticeable.

She sighed for the eleventh time that afternoon as she drank her water, and each sister gave her a worried glance. They knew she was still depressed over Raph, and wondered if they should stop coming here for a while. Zoe assured them she was fine, but how she was acting now did not help to prove her case.

Zoe wanted to see him. She just wanted to look at Raph again, to make sure he was alright. Her sisters thought it was a bad idea. And Zoe agreed with them. Looking at him made her heart thud. Knowing he no longer paid attention to her made it break.

Finally, while at the table, she stood up. Zoe couldn't help herself. She knew where he would be, and she knew he would act as if she weren't there. But she had to just take a glimpse at him. Even if her sisters knew that tempting herself would be bad news.

'_But when you love someone, it's hard to let go.'_ She thought to herself as she excused herself from the table. Turning and walking to the training room, some part of her couldn't help but worry that it was a bad idea.

Her sisters watched her leave the table and knew where she was going. Each one looked at each other, sending silent messages. Mikey immediately caught on to Ava's facial expressions.

"Hey. What's wrong Aves?" He asked.

Ava looked at Mikey, the concern clear in her eyes."We're worried about Zoe." She spoke.

"Why?" Don .

Ava looked at her sisters, before speaking. "Zoe has a great fondness for Raph."

"You know, I'm a bit worried with you sharing our secrets to them all the time." Lara interrupted.

Ava ignored her sister as she continued. "And as you can see, Raph seems to have been ignoring her as of late."

"Yeah." Gracie said. "We're all worried about her."

Gracie felt Leo's fingers rub the back of her hand gently, and she took a sip out of her tea to hide the gentle smile that had grown on her face.

"Well, we have noticed Raph spend a lot of his time in the dojo whenever you guys show up." Don concluded.

"Yeah. That's were Zoe seems to be now. At the door of the dojo or around that area."

"D-Did you say 'dojo'?" Mikey stuttered.

Ava nodded. "Yes, why?"

Mikey gulped. "Oh no."

A loud cry was heard out in a part of the sewers, and all of the girls stood up and ran to find the source. Don and Leo took one look at Mikey, who had seemingly gone pale, before following. Mikey shook his head and ran quickly after them.

Zoe was found on her knees, crying. When she opened the door to the dojo gently, just to see a small part of Raph, a bucket of white gunk fell on top of her, covering her entirely. Her sisters had surrounded her as she sat on her knees in the mess. Each one of them held her as she sobbed, not worrying about getting whatever it was on their clothes. Lara stood up and looked at the turtles that had entered.

"Who did this!" She yelled. "Who the shell did this!"

Mikey meekly raised his hand, his face looking at the floor.

"You jerk! I'm going to turn you into turtle soup when I get my hands on-"

"Lara." Ava spoke calmly. Lara turned around to face her sisters, who stood up beside her. Ava placed a hand on her shoulder, her eyes blazing. Lara understood and nodding, turning back to Gracie who was murmuring comforting words to her sister.

Ava turned to Mikey. "Why?"

"W-why?" Mikey stuttered under her piecing glare.

Ava scowled. "Why."

Mikey gulped. "Well... It wasn't for Zoe."

"Who was it for?"

"Raph." Mikey murmured.

Ava glared at him. "Maybe next time you should think twice about trying to hurt your family."

"I didn't think-"

"Exactly. You don't think. You don't think about the consequences of what you're doing, or what would happen if things didn't turn out right or-"

"Hey!" Don interjected. "Don't talk to my brother like that!"

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Lara retorted as she stood up quickly and joined the three, Gracie following close behind.

"Come on guys," Leo spoke. "Why don't we just-"

"Shouldn't you have more control over your team?" Ava interrupted.

"My team!" Leo growled.

"Mikey shouldn't behave so childish anyway!" Lara argued.

"Mikey can behave in whatever he wants!" Don yelled back.

"How old even is he?" Gracie crossed her arms. "He behaves like a five year old!"

"I do not!" Mikey shouted. "Geez, it was just a joke!"

"Oh yeah! Well how come most of your jokes turn out so badly?" Lara snapped.

Ava nodded. "Yeah, first Gracie and now Zoe. I'm starting to think you just have it out for my family!"

"Oh yeah, Little Miss Bossy!" Mikey yelled. "What's up with you! Following Leo around and then coming onto me as if we're some kind of trend you're following. You'll be hitting on Don next month!"

"Oh please, Ava's about as interested in Don as I am!" Gracie retorted.

"I'm right here; you don't have to act like I'm not in the room!" Don shouted back.

"Yeah, Gracie, can't you be nice to him just once!" Leo argued.

Gracie's mouth dropped open. "You two-timing slug!"

"Turtle." Mikey interjected. "We aren't slime balls like you."

"Oh please, you guys live in the sewer!" Ava growled back.

"What are we supposed to do? Go out on the surface and end up being experimented on? Oh, you all would just love that!" Don cried.

"It'd be better than seeing you all and coming back smelling like a dump-pit!" Lara snapped.

Master Splinter's nose twitched as he heard the argument going out in the hallway. He sighed as he stood up and headed out. As he walked out, he could see his sons arguing with the girls. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone had beaten him to it.

"HEY!" Raph shouted over the argument. All heads turned in his direction. Zoe stared at him, her eyes watering again.

"As much as I love a good fight," Raph spoke, crossing his arms. "What the shell is goin on here!"

Everyone stayed quiet, staring at the red turtle. Mikey gulped, rubbing the back of his head. Don looked at the floor while Gracie turned her head to the wall beside her. Leo and Ava stared at Raph, their stares unwavering, but both were unsure of what to say. It was then that Raph noticed the girl in the white gunk on the ground.

He stared at her for a moment.

"Zoe?"

Zoe began to cry again. She stood up and ran from the hide out, humiliated from what Raph saw.

"Zoe." Ava said.

Gracie murmured "Oh no" before the rest of the girls ran out to follow.

Mikey, Don and Leo all had grim looks on their faces when they realised what had occurred. Raph looked at the three with confusion and Master Splinter sighed.

"A dark day has fallen upon our home." He spoke. "One we may find difficult to recover from. But we must recover, or forever lose a part of our family."

Leo turned to him. "Family, sensai?"

"Yeah." Raph spoke. "Those girls... they're like April and Casey. They're family."

He swallowed and looked at the ground in thought of what he said, before turning back into the dojo.

"Family." He murmured as he left. "We're family."

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Leo looked around to make sure no one was in the room before he picked up the phone. After the second ring, someone picked it up.

"Hello, Gracie speaking."

"Gracie, hey. It's Leo." He spoke nervously.

"Oh, um. Hi Leo." Gracie replied, speaking in the same tone.

"I just..." Leo sighed. "I just wanted to apologise for... what happened today."

"Don't worry about it." Gracie assured. "We were all involved. So... I'm sorry too."

Leo let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "Good. So are we fine now?"

Gracie bit her lip. "Um... well the thing is Leo..."

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Don was in his lab, his head in his hands when he decided to see what the girls were doing. He couldn't help but worry about what they were doing. Especially after the argument they all had. He needed to make sure no one got hurt.

Turning on his video feed, he could see Gracie on the phone, her hand twirling around the cord and tears beginning to escape from her eyes. Don watched in curiosity, before finally deciding to turn up the volume a little.

"I think we should... put our relationship on hold for a while."

Don frowned at this, but continued to watch as she was listening to her reply.

"I just think that... after all that happened we shouldn't see each other for a few days, weeks, at least until this whole thing blows over."

Gracie rubbed her forehead before pulling a hand back through her hair.

"I know we just got started Leo, but if we spend too much time with each other, we'd get sick of it."

She gave out a small smile and leaned on the wall beside the phone.

"I love being your girlfriend too-"

Don gulped.

"And I know I'm going to miss you so much, but I just think we need a break. No, this is not a 'break-up', I just want to pause our relationship for a while. Please Leo, try to understand."

Don froze. '_Leo.'_ He thought. _'There could be other Leo's. Just because this guy's name is Leo doesn't necessarily mean that it's-'_

"Leo, I just want to sort this out just in case it gets worse. And if Don finds out, he'll be heartbroken."

It was then that Don knew. Leo, his brother, had been in a relationship with Gracie. Behind his back.

"I know Leo. I don't want to hurt him either. It's just so hard, you know? If only Lara would..."

"Lara?" Don murmured. "What does Lara have to do with anything?"

Gracie sighed. "When everything gets better, then maybe we could go out again."

Don watched as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Ok Leo, I've got to go." She choked, wiping her eyes. "Bye."

She waited for a moment for him to say goodbye, before hanging up. Grace sat her back on the wall for a moment, before sliding down to the floor. She began to sob.

"What have I done?" She wondered out loud. "I love him. I know I do. I just... I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

She cried into her hands for a moment before pulling them back in realisation.

"But I hurt Leo. I... I basically broke-up with Leo. Oh gosh, what have I done!"

Gracie stood quickly before running out of the view of the camera and into her bedroom.

Don stared at the screen for a moment then got out of his chair and walked into the lounge. There he saw Leo on the couch, his head in his hands. The same pose Don had before he watched the video.

He sat down next to his older brother and watched him. Leo felt the couch move and he turned to look at his little brother. He then sat back on the couch and sighed.

"I don't know what to do Don." He murmured. "For one of the rare moments in my life, I don't know what to do."

Don examined the floor for a moment before turning to Leo.

"I know."

Leo stared at him.

"Know what?"

Don took a moment before speaking. "About you and Gracie."

Leo watched his brother for a moment then sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Don spoke. "She wasn't interested in me. I know that. I have for a while. Yet, now that I think about it..."

Don hesitated.

"I was never really interested in her either."

Leo became confused.

"What?"

"I think... that just because she was fascinated in the same things that I was, made me fascinated by her."

The brothers were quiet for a moment, waiting for the other to speak but both unsure of what to say.

Finally, Leo gave Don a small smile and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Thanks Don." He murmured.

Don smirked and copied Leo's actions.

"No problem bro."

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**All sorted out. Well, mostly. The next one was sort of written out already, but I'm going to have to re-write bits so that it fits in properly. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed ( I know I did, considering I managed to get this all written out nine days before my birthday so I was set for the 11****th****. ) **

**Anywhoo, happy birthday to me! I'm 18! Whoo! Legal drinking age in Australia and such. But I don't plan on being a hard partier. Unlike most people my age, I'm not interested in getting 'off my face'. Only because I manage to have fun and completely forget what happened the night before without the consumption of alcohol. **

**In the words of Envy – "LUCKY ME!"**

**Anyway, byes!**

**~MR**


	30. Chapter 29 Big Night Out

Zoe sat in the bathtub full of white water with blobs of gunk floating in it. Her face had gone red from tears and her skull hurt as her sisters pulled the white goo out of her hair.

"What even is this!" Lara growled as she pulled a hairbrush through Zoe's blonde strands.

"You know the glue they use for paper mache?" Ava asked. Lara nodded. "That."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Oh for shell's sake."

Gracie opened the bathroom door, and quickly wiped her face of tears.

"You ok, Gracie?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah." She murmured. "I broke it off with Leo."

"What!" The girls cried.

"Only for a while. Once this mess sorts over." Gracie assured. The other girls looked at her worriedly for a moment before turning back to the task at hand.

Ava sighed as she scrubbed strawberry smelling soap into her sister's skin. "I'm sorry this has happened. Mikey told me about his prank. I should have warned you."

"It's ok." Zoe murmured. "I guess I deserve it. I practically feel like I'm stalking Raph, and it feels like a sign telling me that I should stop."

"But you like him." Ava replied. "It's only natural for you to wonder what he is doing."

Zoe shook her head.

"There's a fine line between love and obsession. I crossed that line."

"Love?" Lara asked.

For a moment Zoe looked down into the white water.

"Yeah." She whispered. "I think I love him."

The other three looked at Zoe sadly for a moment.

"And now." Zoe continued, tears entering her eyes. "He doesn't even look at me."

Zoe began to cry and her sisters rubbed her back in comfort.

"Well at least he doesn't think your using him." Ava spoke. "You heard Mikey. He thinks I'm going to be trying to get with Don next month when I'll apparently be done with him!"

She sighed.

"He doesn't even know how I feel."

Lara bit her lip.

"At least he likes you. Don isn't even a little bit interested in me."

Gracie rested a hand on her shoulder. "Oh come on Lara, that's not true."

"It is!" Lara interjected. "He still likes you! He talks about you all the time even when he knows you're not interested!"

Gracie looked sadly at her sister's glum faces. She thought about what to do to make them happy again, when she remembered what they normally do when they're depressed. With the idea still firm in her head, she stood up and smirked.

"Hey!" She spoke up. The girls all looked at their sister.

"Who said that we needed to be with any of them? There are other people out in the world, right?"

"I can't imagine my life without Don though." Lara sighed.

"Or Mikey's smile."

"My Raphy-kins."

Gracie sighed.

"Look, I didn't mean we still couldn't be friends with them. What I meant was... well, there are other guys that would most likely kill to be your boyfriends."

Her sisters all looked at each other. Gracie smiled.

"How about we go out to the club tonight?"

"What!" Ava shouted.

"But how can I even dance with another guy when I'm in love with Raph!" Zoe scowled.

"Well I love Leo, but I want to go out. That doesn't mean that I'll make-out with some stranger." Gracie spoke, pulling a face.

Lara only smirked and stood up.

"I honestly never thought that I'd hear you say that you wanted to go to the club Gracie." She smiled as she sat a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Thanks. I need to get drunk off my shell. Maybe then I'd become so numb that any love I have for Don wouldn't be felt."

"Well... I love Mikey, but..." Ava murmured. She stood up next to her sisters. "I suppose a bit of me time wouldn't hurt. Mikey normally has this kind of fun anyway."

Zoe bit her lip.

"Come on Zoe." Gracie smirked. "You gotsta let goooo!"

Lara held out her hand. Zoe hesitantly took it, stood up and smiled as her sister's wrapped a towel around her.

"Alright." She spoke. "One night."

"A night of freedom." Lara smiled.

"A night of fun." Ava smirked.

"A night for us." Gracie winked.

Zoe nodded. "A night to forget."

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Zoe hiccupped as she danced on the floor, trying not to spill her drink on her cream coloured dress. She watched as Ava's short, sparkly silver dress swished around her and her drink spill slightly. Lara was dancing next to her, in her own little black number. Gracie had opted to sit at a nearby table, wearing a dark shirt and a pink skirt, watching them all dance. All the girls had opted for clothes that would not remind them of their turtle friends.

Through her own intoxicated haze, Zoe could tell that Lara and Ava were drunk, but Gracie was only slightly sober. She had decided that Gracie's idea was a good one, and ended up numbing any pain of hers from Raph with the alcohol consumption. She had nearly forgotten about him, if it weren't for every little thing made her reminiscent him.

'That guy's shirt is the same colour of Raph's mask. The green from the light reminds me of Raph's skin. The table is so smooth it reminds me of Raph's plastron. The bartender has Raph's smirk, although it's not as great as Raph's. Some people in this club seem to be catching Raph's rage, except Raph is a little bit more stable, and a lot less drunk.'

Zoe finished of the last of her drink when Gracie grabbed her hand.

"Come on Zo. It's one in the morning. Time to go." She spoke.

Zoe nodded and followed her sisters out into the cool night air. She leant on Gracie while Ava and Lara supported each other.

"Gracie." Zoe murmured. "I miss Raph."

Gracie sighed. "Zoe, you were supposed to forget about the guys tonight."

"I can't help it!" Zoe hiccupped. "Everything in there reminded me of him."

Gracie smiled and reached into her purse for some food. She pulled out a sandwich and handed it to Zoe.

"Here." She spoke. "It may help you sober up a little."

Zoe took it appreciatively and gulped it down. After a while, her head cleared a bit and Gracie handed her a water bottle. Zoe smiled as she drank it. Ava and Lara were giggling away as the girls walked closer to their apartment.

"Evening ladies." A voice spoke. The girls all stopped and turned around. In front of them stood a tall, bulky man. The girls gulped and took a step back.

"It's ok." Gracie spoke. "We can out run this guy."

The man laughed.

"Oh, you may be able to out run me." He smirked. "But can you out run all of us?"

Out of the shadows came around about thirty men. The group had surrounded the girls. Fear processed in Zoe's half-drunk mind, and she turned and ran straight into one of the goons. She screamed as he held her close around his waist.

"Let her go you freak!" Lara screamed.

"Now Lara." The leader spoke. "I knew we'd find you eventually."

Lara turned to him and frowned.

"How... How do you know-"

"Surely you can remember your old family?" The man smirked. It was then that the girls noticed that each goon had a tattoo on their arm.

"Purple Dragons." Lara gasped.

The group around them all laughed hard. Each girl was frozen in terror. The only one who wasn't was Zoe. She struggled in the man's grip, until she finally managed to kick him where it hurts. The man let her go immediately and she turned, running away from the crowd.

"Go Zoe! Hurry!" The girls called out from behind. Soon she was out of sight.

Lara turned back to the leader.

"What do you want from me?" She snapped.

"Revenge."

"You've had your revenge. My parents died in that fire!"

"Yes, but we lost a lot of men that day." The leader spoke. "And two deaths are just not enough."

"No!" Lara cried. Ava was pulled from her side and into a purple dragon's arms. She struggled, but was also held down by two more. Gracie was grabbed from behind and let out a tried to let out a scream before a hand covered her mouth. Lastly, Lara was taken. She tried to fight them off, but one had put pressure at her still healing bullet wound. The leader of the group smirked as he came closer to her.

"I knew it was you Lara." He murmured to her, his hot breath on her face. "I thought I saw you near the old base. You and those... turtles."

Lara froze up.

"Oh yeah, we know about those creatures. We've been fighting those for a long time." The man in front of her smirked. "When I told the boss you were friends with the mutants, he knew that in order to get to them we had to get you and your sisters. Two birds with one stone really."

"Don't you touch them!" Lara snapped.

The man laughed as two more purple dragons grabbed both her arms to hold her back.

"Come on Lara." He spoke. "Have the purple dragons ever refused a challenge?"

The girls all screamed as they were gagged and carried away into vans, before being driven away into the darkness of the night.

Zoe watched as the vehicles left the scene. A guilty feeling overcame her. How could she have left her sister behind when they were in trouble?

She hesitantly walked to the middle of the street where a manhole was placed, leading to the sewer line.

Ironic how she was running to get help from the one man she had gone out tonight to forget.

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Raph was watching the news with his brothers when Leo had decided that it was time to go on patrol.

"Finally!" Raph shouted. "Feels like I've been waiting for ages Fearless."

As he walked over to the entrance of their home, it opened, surprising the turtle. Zoe ran in and rushed into his arms, not caring that the pair had been having a rough time communicating. She gripped him tightly as tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Geez Zoe, what the shell do you think you're doin?" Raph demanded, but then soon regretted his words as Zoe sobbed on his plastron.

"Zo?"Raph gulped and tried again. "What's wrong?"

"Th-They got them!" Zoe choked.

"Who Zoe? You need to explain more than that." Raph asked.

"The Purple Dragons." She cried. "They took my sisters!"

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**DUN DUN DUUUHHH! :)**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this. I made this closer to earlier ones so I hope it has turned out alright. Things... may get better. I have a small idea about what to do for the next chapter, but school will most likely get in the way before I write next it. **

**Anywhoo, hope you liked it!**

**Byes!**

**~ MR**


	31. Chapter 30 I Worry When You're Not Here

Lara pried open her eyes, blinking quickly to try and help her figure out where she was. She remembered being knocked out as soon as she entered the van and she could tell now that she was no longer in said vehicle.

In a grey room with only one light she was chained to the wall. From this position, anyone could toy with her however they wished and she could do nothing about it. She pulled on the chains to try getting free, sick of feeling vulnerable. The door in front of her burst open and she shielded her eyes from the bright light that was cast behind a huge shadow. She remembered the dark outline of the figure well. It was the same one that haunted her nightmares.

"Lara." The man spoke. "So good to see you again. Pity about the circumstances."

"Hun. Honestly I had hoped you had died in the fire." Lara snarled.

Hun laughed. "Like your parents did?"

Lara scowled and looked away.

"Don't think I would have known, huh Lars?" Hun snickered.

"You don't have the right to call me that!" Lara snapped.

Hun slapped her, not hard enough to snap her neck, but hard enough for it to leave a bruise on her cheek. "You don't have the right to speak back to me. Or at least while you're in that position."

He looked Lara up and down, and smirked.

"Nice dress." He commented.

Lara growled. "Back. Off."

"I see those turtles have helped your swearing problem." Hun commented and crossed his arms. "Pity they couldn't fix your attitude."

He leaned forward to her face.

"But what's the fun in having you here with nothing to mess with?" He asked.

Lara spat on him and he reeled back in disgust. He brought a hand up and wiped the spit off.

"Of course, you do remember we have your sisters."

As fear crept into Lara's system, she faltered. Hun laughed loudly and Lara growled.

"If you dare hurt them-"

"You won't be able to do a thing about it. And don't think we aren't waiting for your mutant friends. We have a trap all set up for them."

Lara froze at his words.

"I have over thirty men just waiting and watching guard." Hun continued. "As soon as something grabs their attention, they will strike. And they aim to kill."

Lara gaped at him in fright before growling. "Don't you touch them!"

Hun laughed at her before turning and walking out of the room. Lara pulled at her chains with the urge to hit Hun where it hurts. Hun stopped at the door and turned to her.

"You know Lara. I would almost say that you like them. You may even... love them."

Lara growled. "Let me and my sisters go."

Hun smiled, as if just realising something. "You do love them. Maybe... one specifically. Who is it Lara? The one in red? He seems to match your attitude. The orange? The blue?"

Hun watched her facial features, smirking as he narrowed it down.

"The purple one?"

Lara flinched.

"HA! I never imagined you being one for nerds Lara. What was his name again? Dork, was it?"

"It's Don." Lara snarled.

Hun grinned wider. "That's the one. Now if you excuse me, I have to pay your other sisters a visit. Hmm. Maybe I'll go with the older. She seems like she would be fun to break. And I know that at least two of my men have taken a liking to the shy one..."

Lara fought against her chains as Hun closed the door behind him. Worry and fear grew in her stomach when she thought of her sisters. What if both were stuck in chains like her?

Lara pulled on the chains, silently begging them to give way. Tears made their way down her face.

She could only hope that Zoe had made it out of there without getting hurt.

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Zoe sat on the couch, her knees at her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Tears were cascading from her eyes as she thought about her sisters.

"I'm a coward." She murmured to herself.

Splinter had sat down on the couch beside her and rested a hand on her knee.

"You are very important to your sisters, as they are to you. If you had not escaped, you would have not told us what had happened, and we would have never known."

Zoe gave him a sad smile of appreciation and nodded.

"I miss them."

"It's only been five hours." Raph commented as he walked passed. Zoe scowled at him and looked away.

Splinter looked at his son disapprovingly.

"When one worries, a second can feel like an eternity." He murmured to Zoe. She looked up into his kind eyes, and leant into him for a hug. Splinter smiled down at her tenderly and brushed his hand through her hair.

"It is alright my child."

"I'm scared, Master Splinter." Zoe cried into his chest.

"It will be fine." Splinter spoke. "We will find them."

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Ava was pacing around the small room, her hands behind her back and her brows furrowed in thought. Occasionally, she stopped and stared around the room trying to find a way out before she started pacing again.

Sighing, she sat down in the bed. Ava wondered how her sisters were doing. If Lara and Gracie were in better condition. If they had been fed. If they were hurt.

"They better not be." Ava growled quietly. Her hands clasped together under her chin and a venomous look was in her eye.

The door opened and she looked up to see one of the goons from the gang. She scowled at them as they watched her, before sitting some food down on a table that was cemented to the floor, and walking out.

Ava stared at the food for a moment, then at the door that was closed and most likely locked again. She stood up and walked to the plate of food. She noticed that it seemed to be in edible condition, yet as she gave it a closer inspection, she could see white flecks from some sort of drug that would most likely make her fall asleep.

She growled at the plate then threw it across the room. She crossed her arms then started pacing again. Ava stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to her. She frowned and hoped that her sisters would not be so foolish as to eat the poisoned food.

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Zoe watched the TV, hoping that the funny cartoons would distract her or cheer her up as they normally did. Yet tonight, the Power Puff Girls were doing nothing to escalate her mood. If anything, the thought that the superheroes would never leave their sister behind was making it worse.

A blanket had been given to her to keep her warm, as she was starting to develop a chill while wearing her cream dress that only went a little higher than her knees. She snuggled in to it and remembered how her sisters used to sleep in the same bed with her when one of them ever had a nightmare. The blanket that was on her now smelt of the same detergent her mother used to use, reminding Zoe of apples.

She smiled to herself. When she was younger, she often wondered how her mother could get that sort of sent into her blankets. Even now, Zoe has no idea how the sent really made its way into her sheets. But the smell reminded her of those nights she spent with her sisters. How they never abandoned her in her time of need.

At this thought, tears brew in Zoe's eyes. She had abandoned them.

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Gracie's eyes blinked open, and she rubbed her head into the pillow it lay on. She stopped, and her eyes went wide. It did not have the smell of lavender that usually surrounded her sheets.

She looked around the room, trying to focus on something. But all she could see was a blur, making her head ache. Gracie moved her hands around the bed to try and find her glasses. As she did, she heard the sound of squeaking metal and her head turned towards the noise.

"Wh-who's there?" She asked.

Gracie watched as a dark figure made its way passed her and sat something down on what Gracie assumed was a table. It then turned to her for a moment, and she cowered back to a wall behind her. Rather than coming towards her though, it left the room.

She watched a huge, blurry white shape move and the heard the sound of a door being closed. Shakily, she stood up made her way towards the blurry table. Looking down, she could see different coloured shapes. Gracie picked one up and looked at it for a moment. It's texture was soft and spongy, and it was white.

Gracie guessed that it was bread. When her stomach growled at the thought, she took a bite.

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"Right. Let's go." Leo spoke. During the day, everyone in the lair was one edge. Zoe had only achieved three hours of sleep, and the girls had been gone for more than ten. All of the turtles had their gear on and they were ready to go, when Zoe stood up.

"I'm coming with you." She cried.

"What?" Leo asked.

"No way!" Raph snapped. "You ain't ready to face the purple dragons."

"But you trained me!" Zoe shouted. "You told me I was good enough."

"Good to handle one, not take on the entire gang." Raph retorted.

"Please!" Zoe begged. "They're my family."

Leo hesitated and was about to give in, but Raph was determined.

"No. Way. Zoe." He spoke.

He pushed Zoe back down onto the couch, and she sat down without any resistance.

"You ain't ready for this kinda thing."

Zoe watched him as he walked off, noticing Mikey shrug at her as the four turtles left. Zoe looked down at the ground and Master Splinter sat a hand on her shoulder.

"It will be ok, Zoe. My son's will find them." He spoke, reassuringly. "Please, it is late. We must be getting some sleep."

Zoe nodded as Splinter left her and headed to his room.

As Zoe looked at the floor, she wrapped the blanket around herself and was reminded again of her childhood.

"My sisters never left me when I needed them." She murmured suddenly, and stood up. "And I will not leave them."

With a sudden fierceness inside of her, Zoe ran out of the lair and into the sewer. She was unsure of where she was going, but knowing exactly what she had to do.

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Leo, Mikey and Don looked at each other, and then at Raph in a continuous motion. Each one had a question on their mind.

"Uh..." Mikey spoke, the only one brave enough to stay calm in case of a 'Raph rage', and the only one silly enough to speak up. "Raph?"

"Yeah?" Raph said back.

Mikey hesitated before speaking. "Why didn't you want Zoe to come with us?"

"Cause she ain't ready to protect herself against the Purple Dragons."

The other turtles looked among themselves, grinning.

"So..." Don began this time. "You didn't want her to get hurt."

Raph took a moment to reply. "Yeah."

The others smirked wider, but Raph quickly caught onto their thoughts.

"It don't mean anything!" He snapped as they made their way among the rooftops.

"Sure thing Raph, nobody noticed how all concerned you were with Zoe leaving the lair." Don replied.

"Or how gently you taught her to defend herself." Leo continued.

"Or the look on your face when she was covered in goo." Mikey spoke, but instantly regretted it.

"Yeah, well then you three must hate the others. Considering what happened earlier." Raph retorted. "How the shell did that even start?"

Leo, Don and Mikey stayed quiet for a moment, their thoughts flickering back to the fight earlier that day. Raph shook his head at them.

"It doesn't matter." Leo finally spoke. "It just... happened."

"Yeah." Mikey murmured. He thought for a moment before speaking again. "Do you think she's ok?"

"She had goo fall on her today, and her sisters went missing some time after." Raph snapped. "What do you think, Mikey?"

Mikey looked away. "Yeah. I really didn't mean to though... Ava was right. I really don't think."

"Don't worry about it Mikey." Don reassured. "None of us can see into the future. You wouldn't have expected her to-"

"But I know Zoe well enough to realise that she was so freaking in love with Raph that she watched him every day!"

"Eh!" Raph made a noise. "What you talking about Mikey?"

"Oh come on Raph, you know." Mikey replied. "Every time the girls came over and you were training, Zoe would go and watch."

Raph stared at Mikey in confusion. "She... what?"

"You didn't know?" Leo questioned.

"I guess not." Raph spoke and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I was just... too caught up in thought."

"Well... what were you thinking about?" Don asked.

Raph was silent for a moment and shook his head. "It don't matter. But why would she watch me anyway?"

"Cause she likes you!" Mikey sighed. "She even said."

Raph crossed his arms. "Feh. No way. I know her. She ain't interested."

Mikey frowned. "Well I know her too. And she is."

"It's just another prank!" Raph snapped and turned away.

"Raph." Leo murmured. "You care about her don't you?"

Raph turned his head to the ground and didn't answer. Mikey sat a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Believe me, Raph. I know Zoe. She wouldn't ever mean hurt you."

Mikey stopped for a moment.

"I know Zoe."

"Yeah, whatever Mikey." Raph shrugged Mikey's hand off.

"No, I know Zoe."

"Yeah, we get it, ya know Zoe." Raph growled.

"No, you don't get it! I know Zoe!"

"Whatever Mikey, we don't care! It ain't important!" Raph yelled, turning to him.

"No! I know Zoe! And knowing Zoe, she wouldn't wait for us to come back while her sisters were missing!"

The three older turtles stared at their little brother for a moment.

"You... You don't mean...?" Don murmured.

Raph took off running towards the direction of the lair without a second thought. His brothers followed him quickly after.

"Raph! Wait!" Leo called out.

"Yeah Raph, I could be wrong!" shouted Mikey.

But as soon as Mikey had even hinted that Zoe may not be safe, his blood ran cold. Deep down, he knew that Zoe was like the rest of his family. If one of them were in danger, the others would not rest until they were all safe. Why would she be any different?

Raph dove into the sewers and ran swiftly to the lair. When the entrance opened, he burst through it.

"Zoe?" He yelled.

He ran to the couch to discover the blanket, bunched up and pushed to the side.

"Zoe!" He shouted again as he ran to other rooms she could be in.

Leo, Don and Mikey entered the lair, each one slightly out of breath.

"Is she here?" Leo asked as Raph ran around.

"I can't find her anywhere!" Raph cried. He was panting and held onto his head worrying, his eyes growing wide with a fear that he very rarely felt.

Leo placed a comforting hand on his brother.

"It's ok Raph." He murmured. "We'll find her."

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Zoe walked cautiously in the dark. Her training weapon was held firmly in her grasp as she looked around alley ways and streets to find clues of her missing sisters. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't even remember where she and her sisters were when they were attacked. That was when she spotted it.

In the gutter was a green wallet with purple brand writing on it. Zoe quickly ran to pick it up, and opened it. When she did, she saw the photo of her and her family. She smiled at it and tucked into her jean pocket, as she had quickly changed into more appropriate clothes before heading out to find her sisters. She knew that she was one step closer to them once she found Lara's wallet, but she didn't know how close. It was only when she heard laughter coming from a side ally that she found out.

"Hey there babe." A voice spoke. The outline of a person came closer, with a slight swagger in their step. "Whatcha doin out here so late?"

"I-I'm searching for my sisters." Zoe replied, trying and failing to sound brave.

"Oh really?" The person chuckled. "Well maybe my own family and I can help you. You see my own... Brothers and I are looking for someone too."

Once the man was out of the shadows, Zoe noticed the purple dragon tattoo on his arm.

Zoe growled. "Give me back my sisters."

"Oh, your sisters? I guess that means that it's you the boss wants." The goon spoke. "That sucks. You really do look as sexy as the boss described you."

Zoe charged at the man without another thought. With her training weapon, she hit him across the head and he fell to the ground.

Zoe couldn't help but grin. "Ha! What was it you said Raph? Can't handle myself, can I?"

She let out a laugh at her achievement, not noticing the man stand back up or the other bulky thugs coming out of the shadows. But when Zoe did finally notice, her fear came creeping back on her.

"Or was it... Can't handle more than one?"

The Purple Dragon goons all darkly chuckled as they stalked up to her. Letting out a light squeal, she took off down the road to try and find somewhere safe. But then her own words came back at her.

"_My sisters never left when I needed them."_

Zoe growled, and turned to face her enemies, a feral look in her eyes.

"And I will not leave them!"

Yet even with her own inner strength that was powered by her emotions, in the back of her mind she knew that she could not defend herself against all of the Purple Dragon's that surrounded her.

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Raph jumped ahead of the others, his eyes scanning the area for even the slightest hint that Zoe was near.

"Over there!" Don shouted and pointed to a spot in the streets.

The turtles all headed in that direction until they were down on the ground. Raph bent down and gentle picked up the weapon he had trained Zoe with.

"Damn it." Raph murmured. "Damn it, they got her."

He threw the weapon at a wall in anger while Don was still watching the ground.

"There's blood." He spoke.

Raph looked down and noticed the red, wet patches on the ground. He also got down and checked.

He was almost afraid to ask. "Who... Whose do ya think it is, Donny?"

Don looked Raph in the eyes.

"Honestly? I can't tell right now. But... if her weapon's here, then at a logical guess..."

Don let his sentence hang and Raph understood. He growled and stood up.

"I'm gonna kill those Dragons!"

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**I think this is long enough. Yeah, cliff hanger, I know. Sorry about that. But so was the last one and the next one should conclude it. Hopefully. Maybe? **

**Anywhoo, Raph's thoughts come out in this chapter! Yay! I thought it fit in well considering in the one where the group all had a fight Raph seemed to be in his own little world at the end. :3**

**Not much else to say otherwise, so 'till next time!**

**Bye!**

**~MR**


	32. Chapter 31 Lost and Found

The brothers had searched the entire night trying to find the girls, but they couldn't. Any tracks lead to a dead end. Splinter had woken up not long after the turtles returned home. They explained the situation to him, and he let out a sad sigh.

"Sleep during the day my sons." Splinter spoke. "We shall find them the moment the sun sets."

But Raph could not sleep. His thoughts were plagued by Zoe's smiling face. Zoe's hat sat on the small table next to his bed, as he had not been brave enough to hand it back. Whenever he rolled over, he could still feel it there, so instead he walked into the lounge and sat on the couch, his head in his hands.

Raph couldn't help but feel that her leaving was partially his own fault. He felt that he shouldn't have held her back from finding her sisters. If it had been one of his brothers that went missing, he wouldn't demand that one of them stay home. He felt that he should have known Zoe well enough to realise she wouldn't follow orders. He felt foolish to have not realised this.

At some point, Raph fell asleep in his sitting position. He dreamed that Zoe was sitting with him, encased in his arms. She was warm and she snuggled her head in his neck.

"I love you Raph." She murmured into his ear.

"I love you Zoe." He replied back, just as quietly.

She smiled shyly, looked up at him through her lashes, and then gave him a gentle kiss. Raph couldn't stop the blush on his cheeks as she did, and kissed her back.

It was at this point when Raph woke up. Feeling cold rather than warm, he remembered what had happened and retreated back to his room with a sigh. He sat on his bed and looked at the hat. Picking it up, he watched it closely. Even though the room was dark, he could make out what looked like a piece of thread that hung loose off the hat. But Raph knew better. He knew that it was a lock of Zoe's hair. And he hoped that hair was a sign of her coming back to him.

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Leo rolled around in his bed, trying to clear his mind. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment and thought about Gracie. The conversation he had with her was her wanting to break up over the telephone. The last time he saw her was the argument.

The look of anger was the last thing he saw of her. The sound of tears the last thing he heard.

Hi heart broke again at the thought of not being able to see her again.

"I will find you Gracie." He vowed. "No matter what.

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Mikey sat at his desk, looking down at one of the freshly made comics of his, a pencil in one hand. He sighed as he looked down, and then couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

_Mikey rounded the corner, his gun at the ready. He knew where she was because her heavy breathing gave it away. Slowly creeping, he moved so she was in his sight._

"_Gotcha!" He murmured before firing. Ava screamed as cold water hit her side and she made a run for it again. He laughed as he followed her. Holding back a bit to make it seem as though she had a chance, he watched as she ran into his room._

_Mikey smirked as he entered the room and looked around._

"_Avaaaaaaaa." He called. "Where are yoooooouuuuu?"_

_He moved to the front of his wardrobe that held any spare masks or protective gear, and was about to open it when he felt water blast his shell. _

"_GAH!" He cried and turned around, only for the water to be aimed at his face. He moved his hands over his head so he could breathe and laugh without choking._

"_HA!" He heard Ava cry, when suddenly the blast didn't come on so strong. _

_Mikey lowered his arms to see that the water gun was losing its ammo, and he couldn't help but smirk._

_Ava looked from him to her weapon. _

"_Uh oh." She murmured. She began to run, but Mikey quickly jumped for her and the pair landed on the bed she had been hiding under._

"_Say it." Mikey spoke._

"_No." Ava whispered from underneath him. _

_Mikey rose his hands threateningly and smirked. "Say it."_

_Ava's eyes went wide. Although afraid, she couldn't help but smile. "Never."_

"_Alright!" Mikey grinned. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"_

_Mikey's hands came down at her sides and his fingers flexed and moved in a fast pace. Ava starting to giggle and laugh uncontrollably as his hands tickled her sides._

"_S-Stop it!" Ava cried._

"_Not until you say it!" Mikey snickered._

"_No, I- I won't!" Ava said between laughs._

_Mikey grinned wider as he continued his tickle torture. Ava's laughter filled the room and everyone who walked passed the room shook their head._

"_Give up yet?" Mikey yelled over her laughter._

"_A-Alright!" Ava finally cried. "I surrender! Mikey wins the water fight!"_

"_Who wins the water fight?" Mikey smirked and crossed his arms._

"_Mikey, the Turtle Titan and Battle Nexus Champion wins the water fight."_

"_Aaaannnndd?"_

_Ava bit her lip. Mikey fought hard not to bend down and kiss them. He waited patiently for Ava to finish her sentence._

"_andallhailMikey." Ava spoke quickly. "There."_

_Mikey smirked. Ava couldn't help but grin and shake her head at him. He leaned forward and rested his body on hers, his head on her chest. Ava blushed. _

"_Mikey?" She asked, trying to keep a stutter out of her voice. "What are you doing?"_

"_I'm tired." Mikey said._

"_Yeah." Ava replied. "but what are you doing on me?"_

_Mikey grinned. _

"_You're comfortable." He murmured, as if it was the only logical answer._

_Ava couldn't help but smile, and wrapped her arms around his head. Mikey began to try and fight the blush that was making its way onto his green cheeks. Ava didn't pay attention, and took this time to look around his room._

"_Hey." She spoke. "That poster on the wall. Isn't that a comic?"_

_Mikey looked up from his position. "Yeah. Mine."_

_Ava grinned and looked down at him. "You make comics!"_

"_Um…" Mikey said surprised. "Yeah."_

"_Cool!" Ava giggled._

_Mikey rolled off Ava, and watched her as she headed toward the desk._

"_Who are you and what have you done with Ava?" He spoke. _

_Ava rolled her eyes and looked down at the drawings on the desk._

"_I used to read them for Zoe when she had trouble reading. Ever since I've been interested in them." She commented. "You're really good."_

_Mikey watched her in amazement. He had never expected Ava of all people to read comics, even less so for her to be even interested in his. _

"_So, where's the girl?" Ava spoke._

"_Girl?" Mikey asked._

"_You know." Ava spoke, turning to him with a page of comic drawings in each hand. "The female protagonist. The damsel in distress."_

_Mikey frowned. "There isn't one."_

"_Oh." Ava murmured. She shrugged and sat down the pages. "Well, I suppose not every comic has them. Or at least not all the time. I haven't seen many in The Phantom."_

_Mikey smirked at the comic hero reference and nodded. _

"_Ava!" Lara called from the hallway. "Come on Feather Maiden, where are you?"_

_Mikey snickered and Ava sighed. _

"_Feather Maiden?"_

"_I told Lara that I was sick of her calling me Wonder Woman. It was unoriginal and that I didn't want to be compared to a woman that wore a costume with too much skin showing. So, when she found out my name means 'bird-like', she went onto a super hero name generator sight and she decided on that name." Ava shrugged. "It's more embarrassing I think, but I like it better."_

_Mikey shook his head as Lara continued to call out._

"_Come on, time to go home. You need to get some sleep before work." Lara yelled._

_Ava sighed in disappointment and turned to her friend._

"_Until next time Mikey." She smiled and left the room._

_Mikey's eyes gazed over as she left. She closed the door and Mikey was left alone with his thoughts. An idea popped into his head, and he walked to his desk. He couldn't stop grinning as he designed his female protagonist; Feather Maiden._

Mikey finished the final strokes of his drawing of Ava. Her arms, or Feather Maiden's arms, were wrapped around the Turtle Titan of his comics. She was wearing a long, flowing dress and her hair was up nicely. The Turtle Titan's arms were around her too, and she was smiling with her eyes closed, facing his chest. His own head looked down slightly at hers. The drawing looked magical, and Mikey knew he would definitely be using this new character in his series.

"Just need to add the final touches." Mikey murmured, as he made a speech bubble that was coming from the Feather Maiden. Smiling, he put down two words Ava had spoken to him that night at the skate park. The ones he hoped Ava would say to him when he rescued her.

"_My Hero."_

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Don was the only one to get some sleep that night. Yet although he slept, that didn't stop his dreams from turning into nightmares.

_Gracie was standing behind him, her arms around his neck. Or at least, it seemed like it was Gracie. Don frowned. This wasn't right._

"_What's the matter Don?" Gracie asked, smiling. In the dream-like state, Don could see himself and Gracie, yet know that it was him she was holding._

"_I… You… Aren't you with Leo?" Don asked._

_Gracie giggled. "Don, come on. Why would I be with Leo? I love you."_

"_But… Leo loves you." Don replied._

_Gracie shook her head. "No he doesn't. He loves my sister. I love you." _

_Don stared at the ground. "I… I don't love you. Not in that way. I'm sorry."_

_A teardrop fell on his shoulder. He turned around, expecting to see Gracie. What he saw shocked him to the core._

"_L-Lara!"_

"_I knew it." Lara sobbed. "I knew I was an idiot for even thinking."_

"_Lara, I-I…" Don stuttered, unsure of what to say._

"_I knew it. I'm an idiot." Lara turned and ran._

"_Lara, wait!" Don called out after her. He ran to follow her, but even with his ninja skills he couldn't keep up._

_A Purple Dragon goon suddenly appeared out of thin air, standing behind Lara. In one of his hands was a knife._

"_Lara, look out!" Don shouted. _

_Lara turned towards to him, the Purple Dragon still managing to stay out of her sight, then stabbed her in the back. The blade came right through Lara, but rather than going through her side, it went through her heart._

"_Lara, no!" Don screamed out as the knife and Purple Dragon disappeared. _

_Lara fell to her knees. _

"_D-Don." She murmured. "Help me."_

_Lara fell to her side, her blood making a puddle around her._

"_Lara!" Don kept yelling, yet no matter how hard he ran he could not get to her. Her figure became still and pale. Don still tried to run to her. He needed to get to her._

"_Lara!"_

"Lara." Don cried as he awoke, his body jolting forward.

His breathing was heavy, and he was covered in sweat. He laid slowly back down, his sheets sticking to him as he tried to calm himself down. Don closed his eyes.

"Lara." He murmured in the darkness. "I'm sorry. I wish I could find you."

Suddenly his eyes shot open. "Lara."

He shot out of his bed and ran to his lab, slamming the door closed behind him. He swiftly typed on his keyboard, a map screen appearing on his computer. Typing a few more keys, a little red dot appeared on the screen.

'Home' it said.

Dashed lines made their way down and across the screen, following what looked like roads or pathways. Don's stomach twisted.

The door to his lab opened, and his brothers stepped in.

"Don?" Leo spoke. "Why are you up so early?"

"Yeah." Mikey yawned. "You should be sleeping."

"Like you can all talk. Shouldn't you be sleeping too?" Don scoffed.

"Yeah. But we heard you get up." Raph shrugged.

Don sighed. "I'm trying to find the girls."

The other turtles stared at Don quizzically.

"How are you doing that?" Mikey asked. At this, Don froze up and didn't answer.

"Don." Leo spoke warningly. "What did you do?"

"Well…" Don began and rubbed his head. "After Lara was shot, I was thinking that I didn't want that kind of situation to happen again. Or at least while I'm not around. So I… uh…"

"Donny." Leo growled again.

"It was only a small microchip! And she was under meds at the time, so she probably didn't even notice."

"Why did you give her a microchip?" Mikey asked.

Don sighed again. "It's a locating microchip. This way if she ever went missing, we could find her. I was planning on asking the others if I could do it to them too, but I kind of forgot."

The computer began to beep and Don turned back to the screen. There was another red dot on a different place on the map.

'Lara'

Don smiled and pressed a few more keys to get a wider view of the map.

"Well, the good news is she isn't out of the city." He spoke.

"And the bad news?" Raph asked.

Don's fingers hesitated over the keyboard. "I have no idea if the others are with her."

Raph scowled and turned away.

"We'll find them." Leo promised. "No matter what it takes."

"Yeah." Mikey agreed. "I just hope we find them in one piece."

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When the sun finally hit the Earth, the four brothers quickly got themselves equipped and headed out; following the trail that Lara's tracker had left on a small GPS like object of Don's.

"This way guys." Don spoke as they jump along, rooftop to rooftop.

As they went along, the lights of the city started to dim until the brightness was behind them, and there were only a few street lamps for them to see.

"How long Donny?" Leo asked.

"We're nearly there."

"This place looks familier." Mikey murmured as he looked around the area.

"Yeah." Raph agreed. "Have we been here before?"

The group stopped, not far from where Lara was and thought.

"Isn't this where we were when we found the police cruiser?" Don asked.

"Hey!" Mikey agreed. "Yeah! There it is!"

He pointed over to where the old car was, the dented sides and smashed windows all familiar to the group.

"I see they didn't move too far from their original base." Leo mused. "It was probably so that they could clear up anything that was still worth something once the fire was out."

Don nodded and looked down at the tracking device.

"This way guys," He said, heading away from the car. The others followed in his direction until they made their way to a large shed. "She's in there."

The brothers looked at each other and got prepared to make an entrance.

"I'll find you Gracie," Leo vowed, "I'll find you and save you."

He held back for a moment as his siblings all ran for the warehouse.

"Even if it sends me to heaven."

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**FORESHADOWING!... Maybe? So yeah, they're coming for them. :) I'm surprised I managed to write a chapter without the girls, so I think this is good. Granted I wish I could find a way to make Leo's part longer. :/ Nyeh, anyway.**

**I was planning on posting this out next month, but I've been having a crap day (one of those rare ones for me. Its also a day where the weather matches your mood. -_-' ) and the comments you guys all post make me happy and smiley. So thanks guys, making this story for you. **

**Bye!**

**~MR**


	33. Chapter 32 The Search

King sniffed and shuffled his feet, the gun at his side hitting his hip lightly and reminding him of tonight's game.

"Yo, dude." G-Man murmured. King turned to look at him. "Do you think the boss would mind if I uh…" G-Man winked at him.

King rolled his eyes. "Yes G-Man, for the third time, he would."

"Aw!" G-man whined. "Come on! He said he'd let the others do it!"

"Yeah, when they're done doing their job. Now get back to it."

G-Man scowled at turned away from King. There was a moments silence before he spoke again.

"I'd get the blonde one."

King turned to him, disgusted. "Ain't she all bloodied up though?"

"True," G-Man agreed. "but she's passed out, she can't stop me."

"Dude, we spiked all of their food. If they even ate a tiny bit of it, they'd all be passed out." King rolled his eyes again.

"Oh yeah." G-Man spoke. He paused for a while before continuing. "I'd still do the blonde."

King shook his head and looked at him. "You're sick."

"Oh yeah?" G-Man snapped, "What about you? Which'd you do?"

King turned his head and bit the corner of his lip in thought.

"I'm not sure." He murmured before looking around the area.

G-Man shrugged, "Whatever man. Hey, I'm gonna go catch a break." He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and waved it in the air

"Not near me thanks." King chuckled. G-Man shrugged again and turned away, walking to the edge of the warehouse. King shook his head again and smirked. "Careful, those things will kill ya man."

"Yeah," G-Man snickered, "And bullets won't?"

"The boss will once he finds out you walked off." King called out.

"He won't!" G-Man called back as he turned the corner.

King chuckled, not overly sure if G-Man would get away with smoking on the job. Unfortunately for him, his chuckled had caused him to miss the swift _SMACK_ of G-Man getting hit in the back of the head, then falling face first into the ground.

"Raph!" Leo whispered harshly from the rooftops. "We're supposed to be using stealth!"

"He was talkin' about my girl!" Raph whispered back from the ground. "Like I was gonna let the guy get away with it! What the shell would you do?"

Leo rolled his eyes at his brother, and then turned his attention back to the other goon that Don and Mikey were watching.

King was biting his lip in thought again before he came to a conclusion.

"I think I'd go for the one in the glasses."

_SMACK!_

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The turtles all stuck close to the wall, staying in the shadows as they walked around the warehouse.

Don pulled out his gps-like device and looked at the screen. "This way." He murmured.

They all went silently around a corner, down the hall, and were about to take a left turn when voices were heard.

"Do you think they took the bait?" A voice asked.

"Yeah. The girls are probably too stupid to realise the food was drugged!" Another snickered.

"Oh yeah!" The first agreed, then let out a chuckle. "So which one are we going to?"

"The oldest I think. She gave me a glare when I entered the room. Not Lara, a different one. It was kinda like she was challenging me." The second spoke. "Like I'm gonna let some girl think she's tougher than me. Ha!"

"Ava." Mikey murmured.

The others nodded.

"So which room is she in?"

"Just around the corner here. We're going to have to check which one though. They're all nearby."

The turtles all looked at each other, then jump up and held themselves on the roof to stay out of sight. When the two goons went around the corner, the turtles all dropped down and boxed them in. Before either thug could say a word, Raph and Leo had one each with their hands covering the thugs mouth to stop them from speaking. Don pulled out a couple of needles and injected each with one.

He smiled when both thugs closed their eyes. "Sleeping drugs."

Leo and Raph let the goons go, and Mikey grabbed a set of keys from one of their pockets.

"Ha!" he cried, then turned to open one of the doors. When it opened, he walked inside and called out, "Ava?"

_Smash!_

Mikey's world went dizzy and his eyes rolled before falling on the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" Ava cried in shock, then bent down to hold the turtle. "Mikey, I'm so sorry!"

"What… What was that?" He asked, reaching a hand up and gently touching his scalp.

Ava giggled nervously. "A plate. I figured that if I knocked out one of the goons, then I could get my sisters and I out of here."

Mikey grinned and looked up at her. "Good plan."

"Yeah," Ava smiled back, then rested her hand on his. "Pity instead the victim was you."

"Hey, it's ok Ave." Mikey chuckled. "I'm a tough turtle."

Ava wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're not just a tough turtle. You're my hero."

"Aw." Mikey murmured, holding her back and trying to hold down a blush.

Leo chuckled and pulled the keys from the door to the room, turning and opening the one on the opposite side.

"Gracie? Are you in here?"

He looked around the room, then noticed the bed on the opposite side of the door. There, he noticed Gracie asleep. He quickly ran to her side, got down on his knees and gently brushed a hand through her hair.

"Gracie…." He spoke gently. "Gracie, come on. Get up."

Gracie rubbed her face against the pillow and moaned in her sleep, an act that Leo thought cute.

"Come on Gracie." He chided, then gave her a gentle kiss on her nose.

Gracie's eyes flickered open, and she rubbed them. "L-Leo?"

"Yeah," Leo smiled. "It's me."

"You missed." She spoke sleepily.

Leo frowned. "Missed?"

Gracie leant forward, and kissed the corner of his lips. When she pulled back, she frowned too. Leo watched her, confused.

"I'm sorry." She spoke. "I don't know where my glasses are, and I can't see properly. I missed too."

She placed a finger just underneath her lips.

"Can you hit the target this time?"

Leo blushed and gulped. He leant forward slowly, and Gracie stayed in her place as she waited. She wrapped her arms around Leo's head, when she finally felt his lips on hers. She grinned when he pulled back and leant on his chest.

"Perfect first kiss." She murmured.

Leo smiled, put one arm around her back and the other under her legs, carrying her bridal style.

"Yeah," He spoke into her ear, "It was."

"Alright, love birds." Raph spoke at the door. "I'm takin ya key and leavin before I throw up."

Leo shook his head as Raph pulled the key from the door. Raph turned, then opened the other one next to Gracie's. He looked around the room, then at the bed. His blood ran cold and a knot formed in his stomach.

"Zoe!" He cried. He ran to the bed and almost fell on her. As he got down on his knees, his hands floated over her body, worryingly.

"Don!" He yelled. "Get the shell in here!"

Don ran in, then pushed himself next to Raph.

Raph looked between her and Don as Don picked up her hand and held her wrist.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Raph asked.

"I need to check her vitals." Don answered, then a moment later said, "She's got a heartbeat, but apart from that there isn't much else I can check."

Raph felt tears in his eyes as he looked over the girl. On Zoe's face, she had a black eye, with tried blood around the bruise. There was a cut over her other eyebrow, on her lip and at the hairline. One of her cheeks were bruised, and also her neck. Her arms had bruises and blood too, and Raph assumed that the rest of her body had the same thing. He could only hope that none of her vitals were damaged, and the worse thing was a broken bone.

"We gotta take her back Don. She needs help." Raph cried.

"No Raph, what she needs is a doctor. In a real hospital." Don murmured to him and stood up.

"But… But we can't do that to them." Raph replied.

Don shook his head. "I'm sorry Raph, this seems a bit too much to me."

Raph looked down at the broken girl and held her hand. Don sighed sympathetically, then pulled the keys from the door. He walked across the hallway to the room across Zoe's, and opened the door.

"Oh shell." He murmured.

Rather than their being a bed and table in the room, there were chains on the wall. Don could only guess that Lara had been in them. But she wasn't anymore.

"No." Don murmured, but his voice became louder. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Leo, Gracie, Ava and Mikey entered the room.

"What's wrong?" Ava asked.

"She's not here! They said you were all together, but she's not here!" Don cried and grasped his scalp.

"Don, it's ok!" Leo assured, walking up to his brother with raised hands to calm him.

"OK! How is it ok!" Don demanded.

Leo held his brothers shoulders. "Did you look at the tracking device?"

Don stared at Leo for a moment, and then looked down at the device. There was still a few dash lines, leading a pathway to Lara. Don let out a sigh of relief, before walking out of the room and heading straight towards her.

"Don!" Leo shouted as he left, "Where are you going!" 

"You all got your girls," Don called over his shoulder, "Now I'm going to get mine."

The turtles all smiled at each other, before each decided their own next move.

"Raph," Leo spoke, "You take the girls out of here. Get Zoe to a hospital as quick as you can. Mikey and I'll help Don."

"No way," Ava spoke and stepped forward, "Lara is my sister. I'm going to help find her."

Leo nodded to state 'ok'.

"Yeah." Gracie agreed and grasped Leo's hand.

Leo turned to Grace, fear evident in his eyes. "Gracie, you can't take care of yourself like Ava can."

"But… But I can help someway!"

"Gracie please. I… I don't want to see you get hurt." Leo spoke, raising a hand up and resting it on her cheek.

"You… you think I'll be a burden." She murmured.

"I… Gracie…" Leo stuttered, trying to come up with a better answer.

"No, no. It's ok. You're right. I can't fight, I've never learnt." Gracie sighed. "Just… just think of it as something you'll help me with when you get back. Ok?"

Leo smiled at her, "Ok."

Gracie grinned, then kissed him. She rested her head on his for a moment.

"Stay safe." She whispered.

"You too." He replied.

Gracie smiled and turned to Raph.

"Ya ready to go?" He asked. Gracie nodded, walked over and held his arm. "Then let's go."

Raph turned and headed for the exit, Zoe safe in his arms and Gracie following close so she wouldn't get separated. Leo sighed as they left and Mikey sat a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry dude," He spoke, "Raph'll take care of them."

"Yeah," Leo replied, then looked down at his brother, "I think that's what I'm worried about."

Mikey chuckled.

"Come on guys," Don spoke, gaining their attention, "This way."

The rest all nodded and followed him down the corridors to Lara. Finally, the group all stopped a metal door, the tracker claiming that Lara was inside. Don reached out a hand and placed it on the door handle when Ava spoke.

"That's strange…" She murmured.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"There aren't any guards around."

Mikey shrugged. "Maybe they all went out to eat or something."

"No," Ava shook her head, "Something doesn't feel right."

Don glared at her for a moment then opened the door. In the centre of the large, dark room was Lara, a single spotlight on her. She was tied to a chair, with a piece of fabric covering up her mouth. Her head shot up when the door opened, and she tried to yell at them through the rag, but all that came out was muffled sound. Don grinned when he saw her.

"Lara!" He shouted.

He ran up to the girl and was halfway when a baseball bat whacked him in the dark. He flew back to the floor, and rubbed his cheek where it hit. The other lights in the room suddenly came on, and standing in front of the turtle was a purple dragon. The thug smirked as he looked down at the turtle. Don glared up at him, but then laughter was echoed around the warehouse. The other turtles looked around to find the source, when they noticed Hun standing up on a railing, looking down at them all with a smirk on his face.

"It's about time you got here, turtles." He spoke, "Lara here was beginning to get worried."

The other goons laughed as Lara struggled with the chains that held her down, her muffled cries calling out again. A thug came up next to her and gave her a gentle touch on the shoulder, an act that made her instantly move away from him.

"And as you can see," Hun continued, "My dragons were also starting to get… hungry."

More laughter echoed around the room and Don growled.

"Let her go!"

A chorus of Ooooh's floated around the room at Don's words, and Hun laughed again.

"Brave words for a dead turtle." He grinned, "Get 'em."

The goons came flying in all directions around Don, and instantly Leo began barking orders.

"Mikey, Ava, you get Lara out of her binds. I'll go help Don."

The pair nodded and headed to the girl in the centre of the room. Leo rushed over to help his brother, and kicked the thugs away from him as Don prepared to attack.

"I'm sorry Leo." Don spoke sadly as he ducked, then swiftly hit a purple dragon with his bo staff.

"It's ok Donny," Leo spoke calmly, using his katanas to block blows then kicking a goon in the stomach. "It's not your fault."

Lara was still squirming in the chains that bound her down when Ava came up behind her and began to try and de-knot them.

"Well at least they didn't use a pad-lock." She murmured as she tried to undo the one holding her torso.

Mikey was defending the pair by hitting and kicking away the goons that were trying to come up behind Ava and distract her from her work.

"How's it going Aves?" He asked before swacking another purple dragon's head to knock him out.

"It's not as easy as it looks, Mikey." Ava called back, her hands beginning to hurt her hands.

Lara began to whine as the chains pinched her skin from Ava's pulling.

"Sorry Lara." She murmured as she continued.

Don quickly side-stepped an attack before twirling his bo staff around and hitting three goons in the face. Two of them got back up, and Don used a spinning kick on the pair before turning to another and hitting his side. He felt a smack on his arm, and jabbed one in the stomach with the end of his bo staff. He then sat a flat bit on the ground and used his staff as a poll to spin around and hit five goons that surrounded him. He looked around to see more goons coming around him and took a few deep breaths.

"I just can't catch a break!" He murmured as he continued.

Leo was also struggling a bit as purple dragon after purple dragon attacked him. He hit one in the knees, and as the goon hunched over Leo spun over his back to hit the one behind him. He twirled around, both katanas out before using them to block and oncoming baseball bat. He pushed the goon back before slicing the thug with a cross of his katanas, and turns to block another attack. This time he used on katana to block, and the other to slice the goon. Blood began to stain the floor because of his attacks, and he began to wonder whether Gracie was truly up to this or not.

"Better wash up before I see her again." He murmured, then attacked another goon.

Mikey was grinning, although he was nearly out of breath. He was smiling because he was defending his female protagonist. His Feather Maiden. He couldn't help but think of an inner monologue as he attacked and defended against the purple dragons.

'The Turtle Titan swung his nun-chucks around as each bandit attacked him. He hit one across the face, 'KAPOW!', and another in the stomach 'SMACK!', all while defending her Feather Maiden who was trying to help her sister out of her binds'

Mikey felt a blow to the back, and thought about adding that to it too.

'A swift blow from a thug hit him from the back, 'Ugh!', but the Turtle Titan was quick and used a spinning kick to get the bandit down. With a 'HI-YA!' the thug was down for the count.'

Ava was too busy trying to untie her sister to notice what Mikey was doing, and she grinned when she finally got one undone.

"Aha!" She grinned as the chain fell from her sister's torso onto the floor. She moved to her sister's left wrist that had a smaller, more challenging chain on it.

"Damn." Ava murmured and began to fiddle with it. "I wish I had nimble fingers right now."

Lara began to make noise from under the rag and her head began to shake. Her movements caused Ava to become irritated with her, and after a while struggling with the moving chain, she snapped and looked up at Lara.

"What is it!" she growled, and pulled down the fabric from her mouth.

"Don! Look out!" Lara shouted.

Leo and Don, who were standing by each other, looked at her for a moment then looked up. Above them was a metal beam that was being loosened by a small group of purple dragons. The beam was removed from the roof, and Leo sprang into action. He swiftly pushed Don out of the way as the beam fell. Don was pushed far enough to be missed by the beam easily, but Leo was not so lucky.

"Leo!" Don shouted, and ran to his brother that was crushed under the beam.

Ava and Mikey looked at him for a moment before Lara spoke again.

"Help him!" She cried as Ava managed to untangle the last of the chain trapping Lara's left wrist. As they ran off, Lara began to try and untangle the other hand.

Don was looking at the beam that crushed his brother and was panicking. He knew he needed someone to help lift it, but he, Ava and Mikey weren't going to be enough. Even then, someone needed to pull Leo out from under the beam, as he had passed out from being hit. Ava and Mikey where there, and the three of them tried to lift up the beam for a moment, but couldn't. They all looked at the beam in anger, depression and frustration.

Lara was still trying to undo the knots off her wrists when she looked around. Her stomach sunk when realisation dawned on her.

"Guys!" She shouted. The others turned their heads to her. "Where did the purple dragons go!"

The others looked around the room and noticed that there was no thug in sight. A knot formed in Don's stomach.

"You two keep trying to free Leo." He spoke, then turned and ran to Lara. He began to help undo her wrist.

"I don't like this." He murmured. Lara nodded in acknowledgement and looked around. She noticed that a long, black piece of rubber had come from the ceiling from where the beam broke, and right nearby it was a puddle. Her blood ran cold.

"Oh no." She murmured, before the sparks came from the rubber, and one landed in the puddle. Suddenly the room was engulfed in fire. A scream escaped from her lips and tears brew in her eyes.

"It's ok!" Don cried over her and began to pull and tug more at the chain.

Ava and Mikey began to freak out too, trying to get Leo out from under the beam. Mikey began trying to lift it again, but couldn't. Ava looked around and found another smaller beam. She picked it up and wedged it underneath the one crushing Leo, and pushed it down to make the other go up.

"Mikey, help me!" She yelled over the flames. Mikey did as he was told, and the beam crushing Leo lifted a little higher. Ava tried to reach out and grab Leo, but he was too far away.

"Help them!" Lara cried to Don.

Don shook his head, "I'm not leaving you!"

"Please Donny, it's either me or Leo. Don't make that decision! At least I told you to-"

"Shut up!" Don shouted at her. Lara's eyes went wide for a second and Don placed a hand on her cheek.

"I lost too many times," He murmured, "I won't lose you again."

Don leant forward and gave Lara a chaste kiss, before pulling back.

"But… But…" Lara stuttered and her face went red. She blamed the heat of the flames, but she knew it was because of Don. "What about Gracie?"

Don smiled and shook his head. "I don't care about her. She's just a friend. You're the one I want."

Lara smiled and she felt tears in her eyes. This time, she blamed the smoke.

"I love you," Don murmured, "I'm not letting you go."

This time, when Lara felt a warm, comfortable feeling in her chest she had no choice but to blame herself.

"I love you too," She spoke, "I always have."

"And it took me this long to figure it out." Don mused and shook his head, "The next time we're in a near-death situation like this, I'm going to ask you to marry me."

Lara felt her heartbeat quicken at the thought as Don began to undo the chains. She began to cough suddenly when the smoke began to get to her. Don looked at her with worry for a moment, then went back to his work.

Mikey sat down on the beam, holding it in place while Ava went under the bigger one to retrieve Leo. He groaned in pain and blood was on his arms and face, with a crack in his shell.

"We have to get him out of here!" Mikey yelled. Ava shook her head.

"I'm not leaving without Lara!"

"Don will take care of her!" He shouted back. He picked up Leo, holding him over his shoulder. Ava began to cough because of the spoke and they both headed towards the front door. Mikey managed to grab her hand and drag her out to the street. He then pulled Ava closed and jumped onto a roof. He sat Leo down on the roof, where he groaned again. Mikey began to cough and got on his hands and knees. Ava sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. The both looked back and watched the burning building in worry. Where were they?

"It's no use!" Don spoke. "We're going to have to take the chair."

"It's cemented to the floor!" Lara cried, tears falling down her cheeks. Don looked at her with worry, then held her in his arms.

Lara couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face.

"You should go." She murmured.

"Don't worry," He replied, running his fingers down her hair. "I'm not going to leave you, no matter what."

As the flames and smoke surrounded them, they thought of their families. Lara felt guilty of what she had done.

"It's all my fault." She spoke. "I'm so sorry, Donny."

"Hey," Don said with a smile, "If you hadn't done any of this, I would never have met you. Never have told you I love you. Never have love. If I'm going to die, I want it to be with the person I love."

Lara smiled up at him through her tears, and kissed him.

"I'm glad I can spend my last moments with you." She confessed.

Don placed a hand on her face, wiping away her tears. "Me too."

An awkward cough came from beside them and they both turned their heads in surprise.

"If you two kids are done acting all mushy." Raph beamed, holding up a pair of pliers. "I can kinda help the situation."

"Raph!" Don smiled wide.

"I have never been so happy to be called kid." Lara replied with her own grin of relief.

Raph chuckled and placed the pliers at the chain. With a snap, the chain was broken and Lara was free.

"Now, let's get outta here. This place is a little too hot, even for me." Raph joked.

Don smiled, and let Lara climb on his back. The group all ran to the exit with the occasional cough from the smoke. The fire had gotten further in the building, and rather than escaping from the front door, they managed to jump through a window. When each of them managed to suck in a breath of fresh air, they began to laugh despite the raging inferno behind them.

Ava called out to them from the rooftops, and they all went to her with a grin. When together, Raph pulled Leo and placed him on his shoulder to take him to the lair.

"Man, Gracie's going to be pissed at you." Raph murmured to his older brother. Although Leo's eyes were closed, he groaned in response with the slight sound of a 'yeah' as reply. Raph chuckled and shook his head.

"How's Zoe?" Ava asked. Raph sighed and looked at her.

"She's at the hospital. Gracie says that the doc checked her over, and that she may have a concussion or something. But apart from that, she's going to be fine."

Ava smiled lightly and held Mikey's hand. She leant her head on his shoulder as they walked, feeling content even though she had nearly lost everything.

Lara grinned wildly and wrapped her arm around Don's.

"Man," She spoke, "Aren't we going to have some stories to tell the kids."

Don spluttered. "Kids!"

"Well yeah." Lara smirked. "You said if we get into another life or death situation, that you'd ask me to marry you. After marriage, that normally means babies, and for all you know I could turn around and jump off this building right now."

Don gripped her arm tighter. "Don't you dare."

Lara laughed. "Oh I won't. Not now at least."

Don rolled his eyes and kissed her, making her lightheaded. "Not at all."

Lara couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, alright."

Ava smirked at the two. "Geez, what happened in there?"

Raph made a gagging sound and covered a hand over his mouth. "You don't wanna know." He spoke. The group all laughed as they walked off into the night, happy knowing that their family was alive and safe.

For now.

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**Well, obviously I'm not done. I mean for crying out loud, Ava and Mikey aren't exactly together and neither are Zoe and Raph! Zoe doesn't even know Raph likes her yet! Plus I need to put in a chapter where Zoe and Leo are recovering from their wounds. :p**

**Don and Lara weren't even origionally supposed to get together in this one. It was supposed to be the next because Lara feels irritated and pressured because everyone else is supposed to have gotten together. But I like this better. It's all lovey-dovey and crap. … Hopeless romantic, sorry guys.**

**Poooossssibblyyyy considering making a next part bit story thing. And, just for kicks (because this is called 'Opposites Attract') if I make another part, I'ma call it 'Magnets'. Cause, you know. Opposites attract? North and South pole? Magnets? Yes? No? Maybe? I don't know. Lol.**

**Anywhoo, hope you all enjoyed this long chapter. I'm supposed to be doing homework… but as usual it's just pissing me off.**

**Yeah, screw school. **

**Byes!**

**~MR**


	34. Chapter 33 Happy Endings

Leo woke up to the feeling of a hand rubbing the back of his shell. It was moving in slow, gentle circles over a sore spot while Leo lay on his plastron. Leo groaned and tried to sit up, but a voice hushed him and hands sat him down.

"Don said not to move." Gracie whispered to him.

"What time is it?" Leo asked.

"Three a.m. You've been out for two hours." Gracie murmured, her hand beginning to retrace the circle.

"What happened?"

"You were in the warehouse when a beam fell on top of you. It was heavy and cracked your shell."

"So that's why I'm in a bit of pain." He moved his head so he could see her. Gracie's face was looking at the crack, but her eyes seemed to be searching off into the distance. She seemed tired, almost out of worldly. "You ok?"

Gracie's head turned to Leo's and she smiled. "Just a bit tired."

"Why didn't you go to sleep?"

"I was waiting for you to wake up." Gracie moved the chair she was sitting on forward so Leo's eyes wouldn't have to strain as much. She held Leo's hand in hers and got down close to his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Apart from the pain in my shell, a little stiff." Leo replied.

Gracie smiled and rested a hand on his face. "Don said that the shell will take a while to heal. In the meantime it needs to stay covered."

Leo nodded and squeezed Gracie's hand. She smiled, bent forward and kissed him in the cheek.

Leo grinned at her, "You missed."

Gracie giggled, then kissed his lips. He moved over slightly so she could lay in the bed with him.

"Leo, you're hurt." Gracie argued.

"I'll be in more pain without you in my arms." Leo replied, and pulled her in. Gracie complied and smiled when her head was resting underneath him. He sighed in content and held her close.

"How's everyone else?" Leo asked.

"Zoe's in hospital." Gracie replied.

"Oh," Leo murmured, "Where's everyone else?"

"Well, Ava's checking on Zoe."

"And?"

Gracie smirked.

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Don fiddled with his tie, still finding it hard to believe he even had one on. Lara leant over the table at gently touched his hand.

"Calm down." She murmured. "You look fine."

Don made a noise that sounded like he wasn't convinced.

Lara smiled and shook her head. "This is why I decided that our first date should be in the lair. So you'd feel comfortable."

Don sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not used to this you know."

"I know." Lara replied. "But it's ok. All we have to do is talk. Mikey will handle the food."

As soon as his name was called, Mikey stepped out of the kitchen and walked to the table Lara and Don sat at.

"Spaghetti Bolognese!" Mikey spoke, faking an Italian accent and then kissed his fingertips with a loud puckering sound. "Bon Appetite!"

"That's French." Don murmured. Mikey huffed at him and turned away.

"I'm going to make dessert."

"What is it?" Lara asked.

"Belgium waffles!"

She laughed and shook her head, picking up a fork. She swirled the spaghetti around in before placing the food in her mouth with a smile.

"Compliments to the chef." She spoke after she had chewed and swallowed.

"Like he needs anything else to gloat about." Don chuckled.

Lara giggled at him and smiled. They had finished off the main course after a while when Don cleared his throat. Lara watched him curiously when he pulled out a box wrapped in green wrapping paper.

"Don?" Lara asked as he handed it to her.

"It's a 'First Date' present. Mikey said I had to get one. I'm not sure why." Don spoke as she began to open the wrapping paper. "I know that you like to do gym work and are interested in all kinds of music, but I can't exactly go to the surface to give you anything. So instead I made you this."

Lara looked at the device curiously and pulled it out of the box.

"Is it a mobile?"

"Kind of. We call it a 'shell cell'. My family and I all have one… so I thought that it's about time I gave you one too. This way you guys can contact us easily without having to get to a payphone or use the phone at the apartment and use the number to the lair. You can just call us directly."

Lara smiled and held his hand.

"Thank you Don. I… I've got you something too."

Don gave her a look of surprise as she reached into her purse and pulled out a rectangular shape in purple wrapping paper and handed it to him. She watched his facial expression as he opened it up.

"A photo frame?" He asked, staring at the object.

"Yeah." Lara nodded. "You know how much I love family photos, and I just think that you need one with your family too."

Don looked at her and smiled. "I'm going to need my whole family here though."

"Well obviously." Lara giggled. "At least there isn't many people."

"Well, there's more than you know." He chuckled and Lara watched him curiously. "And now, you and your sisters are a part of it."

Lara blushed. Mikey came out with dessert, then took the dirty plates away. After the pair had finished their meal, he had snuck into the room and began to play some slow, romantic music.

Don blushed and took a glance at Lara.

"Want to dance?"

Lara smiled at him and stood up. Don followed suit and they stepped away from the table. Don wrapped one arm around her waist and held onto the other hand.

"You look beautiful." He murmured to her.

"Thank you." She blushed.

Don came forward and gave her a slow, gentle kiss before pulling back and sitting his forehead on hers.

"I love you."

Lara smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

"I love you too."

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Zoe's eyes fluttered open. The light above her head made her feel temporarily blind as she closed her eyes shut again, turned her head and reopened them. There she saw Ava, leaning off to the side and deeply breathing. Zoe groaned and Ava was suddenly on high alert. She smiled when she saw Zoe rubbing her eyes.

"You're awake." She murmured, leaning forward and grasping her sister's hand.

"Where am I?" Zoe murmured.

"You're at the hospital." Ava replied, continuing when she saw Zoe's panicked expression. "Don't worry. Everyone's alive and breathing, and the only one who got hurt apart from you was Leo. Gracie's with him now. Also, don't worry about the money to pay for the bill. You're worth it, and some friends of the turtles have offered to help."

Zoe nodded and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Ava smiled at her for a moment when she looked at her watch.

"Crap, I'm going to be late." She murmured, then leant forwards and kissed her sister on the forehead. "I'll see you later. You have to spend one more day here before we have to take you home."

"Ok. Bye Ava." Zoe spoke as her sister headed for the door. "I love you."

"Bye Zoe. I love you too." Ava spoke and opened the door. She stood there for a moment, almost in surprise before she grinned. "There's someone here to watch you while I'm gone. Be good ok?"

Zoe frowned. "Um… Ok?" When was the last time her sister told her that?

Zoe shuffled in her bed for a moment as someone entered the room and the door closed. She looked up to see someone in a red hoodie and grey pants. Zoe's eyes went wide and her heart beat quickened.

"R-Raph?"

Without a seconds hesitation the person ran up to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"You're ok." Raph murmured into her hair.

Zoe smiled and nodded.

Raph stepped back and sat on a chair, releasing a deep breath he had been holding. "Thank shell for that."

His hand slipped into hers in a tight grip. Zoe stared at him, confused and happy.

"Raph?" She asked, "Why are you here?"

Raph smirked, leant forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Had to see if me girl was still in one piece." He whispered.

Zoe blushed at his words and looked up at him. "You mean it?"

Raph leant forward and placed his lips on hers. When he pulled back, both of them were blushing lightly. Zoe smiled coyly at him and stared into his eyes. Raph pulled a bit of her hair behind her ear before letting out a happy sigh and sitting back in his chair.

Raph always believed actions spoke louder than words.

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Weeks after Zoe came back from hospital and Leo recovered, Ava was sitting on the couch in the lair, scowling.

Gracie and Leo had sat beside her hours ago as they watched a movie, and the pair had fallen asleep with Gracie on Leo's plastron, and Leo's arm around her shoulders.

Lara was with Don in his lab, her arms most likely around his shoulders and giving him the occasional peck while he worked on his computer. Although the last time she looked in, Lara had relocated to Don's lap, clearly not liking the lack of attention.

Ava considered going back home to the apartment, but she remembered that Zoe and Raph were there. Zoe was planning on teaching Raph a 'game', but Ava thinks that it wouldn't be one that Raph would expect, or ever forget. Ava shuddered at the thought. She remembered in high school how Zoe had this rather extreme version of kiss chasey.

She was envious of all her sister, a feeling she hadn't had before. Each of her sisters had their turtle, while hers was, where? Skateboarding around the sewers.

And Ava had ticked that off her list of 'things never to do again'.

She sighed as she got off the couch and headed off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Splinter had entered not long after she had turned on the kettle.

"Good evening Ava." He smiled at her. "How are you?"

Ava bit her lip. "Conflicted sounds like the right word."

"Ah, but why are you not happy? You're sisters are."

Ava turned her head to stare into the distance. "Yeah, and I am happy for them. But…" She looked at the rat for a moment then sighed. "To tell or not to tell, that is the question."

The kettle made a noise to signal that the water was boiled.

"Would you like some tea?" Ava offered. Splinter gave her a gently nod as she got out two mugs and sat them on the bench. She placed the tea and water into the cups before handing one to him.

Splinter blew on it gently before taking a sip. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Patience, my child." He spoke. "Patience is the way."

Ava watched him as he turned and went back to his meditation room. She sighed then blew and took a sip of her own calming beverage. She stepped out and sat at the table when Mikey entered, sweat on his skin and smelling lightly of body odour. He rubbed his scalp as he looked around and panted as though he was out of breath.

"Want me to get you some water?" Ava offered. He nodded and sat his skateboard by the wall.

"I'm going to take a shower." He replied.

Ava swallowed and nodded. Ever since the incident at the warehouse things seemed to be awkward between them, even if he did save her life and even if they did hold hands after it. Ava had almost expected him to ask her to be his girlfriend the next day, but all that seemed to happen after was avoidance and uncomfortable situations. Ava sighed as she placed Mikey's water on one side of the table. She then sat on the other side of it, placed her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

"This can't be happening." She muttered.

For days now she had been questioning his feelings towards her. Ok, so maybe more than days. After all, it had been weeks since he rescued her and almost a month since they all had that fight. She moved her head to sit her fingers on her chin in thought. Did he remember what she said to him? Even Ava couldn't remember what happened that day. Only that it was a day she didn't want to revisit.

Mikey stepped into the room and grabbed the glass over water. He nodded to her in a notion of thanks before beginning to drink the glasses entire contents and walking away. Ava bit her lip and tried to think of something quickly to make him stay.

"M-Mikey?" She called out. He stopped and turned to face her. "Can I get your opinion on something?"

Mikey nodded and walked over to the table. Ava looked away for a moment to clear her mind before speaking.

"I… Someone came up to me a while ago. And I think they want to ask me out."

Mikey swallowed his water uncomfortably.

"And?"

"And… I was wondering if I could get your opinion on it."

Mikey sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table to her.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Well… because you're my closest friend." Ava smiled gently at him. He looked at the table in thought before looking back up at her.

"What's he like?"

Ava looked at him for a moment in shock before relaxing and thinking.

"He's… well he's funny and makes me laugh almost all the time. He takes his job very seriously though. He makes sure that those he cares about doesn't get hurt. And he is kind to me. Very kind. He feels as though he has to know that I'm ok, even though I can take care of myself." Ava smiled. "And… well, I like him. I have no boyfriend of any kind anyway and I don't think my sisters will mind, so nothing is holding me back. So… what do you think?"

Mikey nodded and Ava noticed that his lips were a flat line. Mikey looked as though his face was a mask, rather than having just the orange one tied around his head.

"Mikey?" Ava asked when he didn't reply.

He cleared his throat and gave her a smile that looked forced.

"You're right. You don't have a boyfriend, so there's nothing holding you back. If he makes you smile and he's good to you, then I say go for it!" He said cheerfully.

Ava felt her stomach sink.

"Well, I'm gonna go back to the sewers. The board won't shred the walls itself!" He stood up and began to walk away.

Ava rolled her eyes and huffed. Standing up she decided to take matters into her own hands. Splinter may have told her to be patient, but her patience was wearing thin. As she strode over to Mikey she called out his name. The moment he turned back to her, she grabbed him and smashed her lips on his. It wasn't an attractive first kiss, but if he couldn't take a small hint then she'd have to give him an obvious one.

She felt Mikey freeze in surprise and after a few moments she pulled back, out of breath. A light blush dusted his cheeks.

"Wow." He murmured. "Wh-what did you do that for?"

"Nothing was stopping me." Ava said clearing before diving in again. This time, Mikey wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed back. Rather than it being like Gracie and Leo's sweet, slow kisses, or Lara and Don's lingering pecks, or even Zoe and Raph's heavy make-outs that they had been having lately, the kiss between Mikey and Ava was something that they felt was completely there's.

When Mikey pulled back and looked at her he smiled. 

"I'm pretty sure that you won't be going out with that guy you were talking about anytime soon." He chuckled.

Ava rolled her eyes playfully and grinned. "You silly turtle. I was talking about you!"

Mikey froze and Ava watched him in amusement. He blushed lightly again and grinned at her.

"Oh," He spoke, "then in my opinion, you should definitely date him."

Ava laughed. "Mikey, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Mikey grinned widely at her before kissing her again. He pulled back with a smile.

"Stupid question."

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**Well the ending went better than I thought. … I think I'm done. I'm considering making another though. As in story. Called 'Magnets'. I didn't get a reply for the idea, so here's what I've basically got (as in the idea).**

'**Lara's past had come back to haunt her, causing a near-death experience for her and her family. The turtles had saved her and her sisters without a second thought. Ava can only hope that they are able to do the same when her own past comes catching up. This is what happens when you chose the Foot over your heart.'**

**Possibility? May need to change that a bit though. It may be too long and I'm not 100% sure on it. **

**Anyway, for the last (possible?) time on Opposites Attract,**

**BYE!**

**~MR**


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